


kiss me better

by ningningbin



Series: ENHA- in the Magick Universe [1]
Category: ENHYPEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Christmas Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Magic School, Rivals, but hp is fiction in this fic, gentle kithes, kinda like Harry Potter, my little countdown to christmas fic, sunsun pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:21:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 40,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27655402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ningningbin/pseuds/ningningbin
Summary: Sunghoon's sitting pretty at the top of every class they have together, and Sunoo really doesn't want his number one spot in Sigils threatened by the older boy's barely-subtle jabs and nuances. And so, they decide to settle the score by pulling a continuous string of childish pranks on each other until one of them finally gives in to concede defeat. Except, in between exploding potions and crude attempts to summon the "nicer" species of demons, they do fall in love, but are too stubborn to admit it.This, of course, calls for an intervention from five boys who vow not to rest till they see Sunghoon and Sunoo kissing under the mistletoe on Christmas morning.
Relationships: Park Jongseong | Jay/Yang Jungwon, Park Sunghoon/Kim Sunoo
Series: ENHA- in the Magick Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2069970
Comments: 76
Kudos: 328





	1. The Day One

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my christmas countdown fic! this story is divided into 3 parts and i hope you guys stay till the end! it's gonna be a ride
> 
> STREAM STREAM STREAMMMMMMMMM

Sunoo's pouring _all_ he has into this damn sigil, and his finger's the evidence of his effort, trembling like a leaf caught in a storm hanging on to dear life. The white lines glow in the shape of what he's managed to trace so far, threatening to turn orange and blow off like ash if he so much as _dared_ to exhale shakily. Next to him, he can already hear Sunghoon blowing out a breath of exasperation as his third attempt fails. _Hah_ , Sunoo wants to gloat, but not until he's managed to be the first one to pull this fifth-year protection charm off in today's class. It's rare that Professor Cho would give in to their whines and indulge in letting them have a preview of what they'd be learning in the coming year, two semesters away, and Sunoo is absolutely determined to surpass the expectations she's set for him.

He's the best student in Sigils that their school has seen in seven years since a senior, Kim Namjoon, graduated. And even with such an enviable title attached to his name, from what Sunoo's gathered, he's not even _half_ of what Namjoon was when he first stepped foot onto school grounds. _He was so incredibly powerful, some people can attest that the ground_ shook _when he got transported in through the gates. And he was so confused! Doesn't even know what he unconsciously did—that's how good he was._

And of course, Sunoo can't _stand_ the thought of not having his name stubbornly refusing to leave the mouths of future students, so he's been working towards the goal of surpassing every record this Kim Namjoon has set in his eight years here. His only obstacle being Park Sunghoon, who claims to detest Sunoo despite choosing the spot next to the boy class after class, year after year. They're seen together so much that it's hard to believe they're not even roommates in the first place, who are bound by the _Oracle_ to protect each other. _No, Sunghoon's basically just obsessed with me_ , Sunoo thinks smugly. Just like that, his train of thoughts crash into a Sunghoon-shaped wall and the line of magick he was feeding into the sigil stutters. Before he can even _think_ to save it, it's gone, vanishing from the air like a dandelion with its head blown off.

" _Huh,"_ Sunghoon whistles lowly, his elbow supporting his weight as he leans against their shared table where dozens of books are lying open, pencils and erasers strewn all over from their research. Here's another thing Sunoo adds to the ever-growing lists of things he hates Sunghoon for: his _damn_ lean. Why the _hell_ does he lean everywhere he goes like he's incapable of standing up like a normal person? He drives Sunoo mad.

"What do you want," Sunoo hisses menacingly, hoping his snarl is enough to send a warning in Sunghoon's way that _now is not the time_.

"Here I was, thinking you were determined to win me for once," the older boy says, feigning a pout. "But I guess it's impossible that you'd manage this before I get it. Cheer up, Sunoo—there's still fifteen minutes left on the clock. You might be able to fit in another attempt... if you're good enough."

Sunoo isn't to be trifled with—everyone knows that. He's famous around the school for his short fuse, but if it weren't for Sunghoon's constant, bugging presence in his every waking moment, he wouldn't have had such a tarnished reputation in the first place. What is he supposed to do when the older boy dogs him around like a familiar bound to its summoner?

"Oh _shut up_ , Park. You wouldn't be in the same Sigils class as me right now if it weren't for the fact that you failed it last year."

"And look at us right now! We're failing the same amount—an improvement for you, I hope, since I'm your role model."

"I fail _a normal amount_. You're the one who's incapable of holding a sigil for more than three seconds with that messy concentration work!"

"Wouldn't have concentration issues if you would just stop looking over to check on me, Kim Sunoo. I know you're in love with me, but I promise I won't disappear in that one-minute interval where you're actually working on yourself."

"I do _not_ stare at you!" Sunoo shouted, his thin string of patience finally snapping with a resounding whip of a lash, and a wave of groans and complaints crashed into the two of them, coming from all other directions. The air was now saturated with the heavy, lingering scent of smoke from the many sigils burning away into nothingness, and Sunoo's outburst was to blame for that. But, _again,_ if it weren't for Park Sunghoon's impish, relentless, _absolutely distracting_ presence, he wouldn't even have shouted in the first place.

Sunghoon, looking satisfied like he'd managed to fish what he wanted to hear from Sunoo, leaned back and crossed his arms. "I never said you stare at me. It seems as though you're well aware of what you do in your free time, too."

"It was implied!"

Within seconds, the crisp sound of Professor Cho's heels clicking against the floor grew louder and the two boys find themselves standing with heads bowed before her soon enough.

"What's going on here?" she asks sternly, and holds up a hand. With a vague sweeping motion, it feels like there's something being sucked right out of the air, if that's even possible, and Sunoo realizes belatedly that she's cleaning up after the mess they made. Sunoo takes his bottom lip into his mouth and gnaws on the flesh until his tongue is probing at what tastes like blood. Gingerly, he lets his eyes wander upwards so he can translate how sorry he feels to her—how sorry he is that he'd _failed_ her in Sigils, yet again. The level four mess scattered around them is merely a result of Sunghoon's incapability to, quite frankly, _fuck right off._

It's always uncanny to look at Professor Cho. She dresses like one of those fake witches off the set of _Harry Potter_ , with their pointy hats set at a crooked angle and her long, draping capes dragging after her wherever she floats. _Yes_ , she _floats_. Or, it always feels like she's floating with how light her steps are. Sunoo often thinks she's enchanted her shoes, and Sunghoon takes every opportunity he gets to call him dumb for that (" _Who in their right, sane minds would even take time out of their day to_ enchant _shoes for bonus points in theatricality, for god's sake!")._ There's always a wand peeking out from her deep front pocket that's rumored to be crafted from the Elemental Sylvan wood and Sunoo _dreams_ of the day he'll finally be able to hold his own version. They don't really have any use for wands here since their school's determined not to push the students' limit and exhaust their reserve to the point where they'd have to rely on such instruments to amplify what little Magick they have left, but you never know...

Say, if Sunoo were to lure a dragon from its den to trap Sunghoon in the forest with it, the boy could very likely drop dead within seconds if he doesn't have his wand on him to earn him that _tiny_ bit of edge in the battle.

Sunoo wishes he has his wand now. It's a family heirloom, and it's more of a comfort toy animal than an amplifier for him, and right now he _really_ needs to calm down.

"Professor, I can do better—"

"Save it, Sunoo," she interrupted curtly, then the lines around her eyes soften as she fights off her frown as well. "There's no more time for another attempt, and I'm sure your classmates agree that you would all do better with a fifteen-minute nap before your next lesson, hm?"

"But I _can,_ I—I," he scrambles wildly for his words, and Sunghoon stares at him like he's thinking of pulling the younger boy back by his wrist. "Professor, I know I can do this. Fifteen minutes is _plenty_ of time."

"Sunoo," she begins gently like she's breaking horrible news to a child who might not understand the gravity of the situation. Is that _him_ , now? "I have no doubt you would master the sigil one day, but your prowess and dedication don't change the fact that this is a _fifth_ year charm. So off you go, everyone! Class is adjourned—please read up on the sigil of ignition before the next class. I'll be testing all of you on your posture and stance."

The younger boy makes one final, desperate attempt to cull her attention but she only pivots and walks away with a hand held up, very clearly indicating that she's had enough.

Slowly, he turns onto Sunghoon, who's traded his worried expression for a pleased one as he waits for Sunoo's outburst.

"I _swear to god,_ Park Sunghoon," he bites out each syllable with all the viciousness he can muster. Sunghoon, it seems, isn't too affected by it. As the students file out one by one, their anger ceased and soothed out of the consolation that they now have a little more than ten minutes to spare mulling about thanks to the altercation, only Sunoo and Sunghoon remain firmly planted to the floor.

"What's up?" he asks nonchalantly, still leaning like a pile of wooden blocks swaying precariously from side to side, threatening to topple over. And _god,_ does Sunoo want for him to fall and be bedridden for at least week so he could get seven days of peace. He really wonders how Jay can tolerate his presence in their shared room so easily, like Sunghoon doesn't annoy him in the slightest. Everytime they eat together, Sunoo tries to sneak bits and pieces of information about Sunghoon out from his roommate, but Jay's as tight-lipped as a Baroxer Deer, and so far hasn't let slip any life-threatening information Sunoo could use against this leaning pile of shit yet. Lately, he's been thinking about triggering Sunghoon's allergies to kill him. It's no problem, considering the reviving ritual needs only a champion to fight a demon in the Underworlds on behalf of the deceased. Sunoo could get into very, _very_ deep trouble for attempting murder, but he thinks that if he pulls it off, Sunghoon would never be a problem in his life anymore.

But here's where the complications lie: he _doesn't_ know what Sunghoon's allergic to. Should he try peanuts? _No—_ he's seen Sunghoon throwing one after another into the air in flawless arcs to catch them with his mouth before, much to the squeals and excited giggles of watchers-by.

Sunghoon's somewhat of a... celebrity figure at school. Admiration trails after him and shines a spotlight on different features every other day. One day people would be fawning over how his raven hair shines like sapphire inspected under direct light, and other times, how his smooth milky complexion remains unmarred by _any_ sign of puberty at all. Not even a _single spot_. He leans, he sighs, he laughs, and everyone in the room takes a sharp inhale like they're in the presence of something legendary. As bitter as he is, Sunoo _does_ acknowledge that not many people can possess even a _fraction_ of Sunghoon's skills. Enchantment work, Alchemy, Summoning and Binding,Transformation and Disguises, Genetics and Horticulture—among all the fifth-years, Sunghoon's the one with the most wins and accomplishments under his belt. The only class pulling his GPA down? _Sigils_.

He failed _every_ exam there was last year on Sigils, hence, he's currently made it his ultimate goal to make Sunoo's life in 4th year Sigils, too, hell.

Sunoo thinks it must be nice to have skin as thick as Sunghoon's. He wouldn't how to still maintain his swagger and over-flooding confidence if he ever gets detained by a year. _Detained_.

The horror of it.

Yet, Sunghoon stands before him right now with all the poise and tenacity Sunoo has ever seen in a person, and he feels like poisoning the dude more so than ever before. He wonders how much it'll take to bribe their senior into concocting a poison for him. He doesn't dabble in the " _wrong crowd"_ , being the model student that he is, but he isn't oblivious to what goes on in the back alleys of the schools, where less-than-honest transactions take place. He's heard of many things before—from _restorative_ brews to actual tranquilizers that make you feel like you're in the clouds. Sunoo is absolutely sure it won't take much effort to locate said seniors _and_ enlist their help in murdering one tall, smug bastard suffering from a severe case of chronic leaning.

"Cat got your tongue?" Sunghoon asks, his light tone carrying a tinge of amusement. He quirks an eyebrow and waits for Sunoo's reply, which doesn't come right away.

Sunoo sets to cleaning up their shared spot, strapping his stationery back to their leather holders before dropping it into his bag. He buzzes around the room, setting heavy books back into their places. He reaches for the last one, when it starts levitating and Sunoo watches it rise curiously, only to notice that Sunghoon was behind it. He waves his hand to the right and the book obeys, heading straight to its place on the topmost ornamental shelf.

"You're such a show-off," he grumbles. Practical Magick doesn't drain as much as the other kinds they're taught to wield, but Suboo's the type to be frugal with how much he exhausts, for as powerful as he is, his reservoir isn't as wide or deep as other people. People like Park Sunghoon, who can use his magick to open doors and flip books and carry things for him the whole day and still wake up the next with enough to do the same thing all over again. He's envious for sure, but who wouldn't be?

"I'm just helping," Sunghoon shrugs. "What do you have next? Need any help on your coursework?"

"No," he rejects the notion of being helped by _Park Sunghoon_ completely, "and even if I do need help, I'd look for someone who doesn't fail on the regular."

"Psh," the older boy teases, still maintaining his easy, sleazy, _greasy_ smile, "it's not like you do any better in Sigils than I do. It's a notoriously difficult class." Sunoo narrows his eyes—that's a blatant lie and Sunghoon knows it. Aside from small-scale disasters, Sunoo is easily the top of his class in the subject, but he just can't find the words to stave off Sunghoon's overwhelming confidence.

"Will you—will you _ever_ leave me alone, Park?"

The older boy pretends to give it some thought, but Sunoo knows he doesn't think. He just doesn't. "Maybe when you learn to address me with a _hyung_ , yeah? I'm older than you after all."

"Then act like it," Sunoo retorts, gathering the rest of things to his chest before storming out.

Not _twenty_ minutes after their last class of the day ends, it's Jay who finds Sunoo sitting alone, curled up on a lounge in the common room with a book on poisons in his lap. There are crumbs all over page seventy-five now, thanks to the ice cream scone he's trying to devour for dinner. Truthfully, thanks to the combined effect of his failed sigil this morning and his _two_ run-ins with Sunghoon outside class, he isn't particularly hungry, but these raspberry ones are the best and he wouldn't miss out on _any_ opportunity to stuff his mouth on them.

He needs to bookmark this page—the ingredients are fairly gross, but easily attainable, so that's a plus. Besides, it's labeled a level seven for how lethal it is depending on the dosage.

Sunoo's got quick hands... it'd be _too_ easy to slip a quick drop or two into Sunghoon's soup during dinner. 

Jay approaches him with a friendly smile, and Sunoo's heart jumps up with excitement. He really pities the fifth-year. What a tragedy, being so nice and kind and intelligent, only to be bound to Park Sunghoon by rules of the _Oracle._ If anything happens to Sunghoon, Jay would be immediately pulled underwater as well, taken in for questioning for hours on end until they're able to squeeze all the information they can out of him. Sunoo would really hate to burden the boy, but he'd make up for it by owning up to the crime right away. If Sunghoon's dead for too long, he might actually end up _dead_ dead, and Sunoo can kiss his chances of graduation goodbye.

"Hey," Jay says as he draws nearer, dragging a chair behind him.

He props himself up on his elbows and wipes away the crumbs from his mouth with the sleeve of his sweater. "Jay hyung," he says, then nods his head in greeting.

"What do you have over there? Studying during dinner? That should be illegal," the older boy snorts. "I really respect you, Kim Sunoo. The only time I ever _read_ is when I'm in class."

"Oh, this—" Sunoo throws his hands up into the air, hoping it'll come off as nonchalant and natural but really, it's quite the opposite. Jay arches a brow questioningly but decides not to push it. "Just... doing research for Alchemy."

Jay's eyes light up, the difference so jarring considering how bored he usually looks that Sunoo finds himself smiling as well. "Cool, want me to quiz you on it? Fourth-year alchemy's the best class, hands down."

"You think Alchemy is the best class every year."

The older boy chuckles and rubs his nape sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I'm just quite a nerd when it comes to potions and brews. A lot of people think it's boring, but only if they _pay attention_ to the finer details, like when the mixtures change colors during effervescence, or when... I'm boring you now, aren't I?"

"No!" Sunoo cries, a little bit too enthusiastically, and his face burns immediately in the aftermath when Jay stares at him curiously, a small smile hanging off his lips. "I—I like Alchemy too. It's one of my favorites, besides Sigils."

"I know," the senior answers softly, and Sunoo feels his heart waver uncertaintly. There _was_ a time when Sunoo was absolutely head over heels for the boy, but he had to store off that piece of affection in his broom closet in fear that it'd only interfere with his studies. Extreme measures, but he didn't come here to play after all! He isn't a legacy student unlike most of them here—even the ribbons on his uniforms are issued in a different color, to remind people like him of what a " _privilege"_ it is to learn with the rest of these purebloods, he supposes. He thinks the system is unfair and works against him, which only serves as motivation for him to surpass _all_ the other students who're only qualified to enroll thanks to their bloodlines and connections.

So. He's not here to date. But catching glances of Jay here and there isn't completely off the books either, so he does that sometimes...

"Shouldn't you be with Sunghoon right now?" he asks, clearing his throat to break the moment. Sunoo actually felt his self-control slip through the reins for a bit there, and he's lucky he's managed to catch hold of it before he straight up busted out a confession.

  
Jay pulls back like he's thinking. "I _should_ be, but I don't know where he is. I was actually looking for him when I found you here. Thought I'd find him with you..."

The younger boy sits up, his face blatantly showcasing how incredulous he feels Jay's words are. _Sunghoon? With me?_ he thinks. With a frown etched deep into his face, Sunoo asks, " _Why_ would he be with me? I can barely stand him even when we're not in the same room."

"Well," Jay responds, tugging nervously on his red ribbon. "You both like saying that, but sometimes it feels like he spends more time with you than he does with his own roommate."

Sunoo scoffs, the slams the book shut, dropping it onto the desk with a huff. "That's cause he finds every opportunity to annoy me. Next time you see Park Sunghoon, you better tell him—"

"Tell me what?" A familiar voice floats into the room and both their heads snap up to see Sunghoon's lanky figure waltzing in to claim a spot by the line of dark, mahogany bookcases where he leans, yet again. He's got his megawatt smile on, the one he uses when he's trying to piss Sunoo off to the maximum, and the hand in the pocket is the cherry on top that makes Sunoo's eyes twitch with irritation. He hopes it translates when he scowls at the boy. They're all in the same uniform, albeit Sunoo's is a different color, but Sunghoon somehow manages to pull it off like they're clothes he's picked out of his closet. Sunoo doesn't quite understand how he can explain the _Park Sunghoon effect_ , only knows that it's very possible the boy might've made a pact with the devil to look this effortlessly cool all the time.

"Well, don't you look excited to see me, Kim Sunoo."

"You _wish_ , Park Sunghoon. I've just lost all my appetite because of you."

"Ah, my dashing looks are such a feast that it's sated your hunger?"

"You're _so_ damn full of yourself, Park."

"Park Sunghoon _hyung_ ," the older boy tuts, waving a finger at Sunoo as if chiding him. Seated in an unfortunate position between the two of them, Jay can only look back and forth helplessly as he tries to figure out how to defuse the tightly-wound tension.

In the end, he settles on inserting a rather forced, strangely punctuated laugh as he slaps his thigh a little too hard. "Oh wow, Sunghoon, where were you? I looked all over the school... you told me to meet you by the fountains."

Sunghoon shrugs. "Got pulled in for extra credit with Professor Cho."

"She _doesn't_ give out extra credit," Sunoo sniffs with certainty, suspicion laced into his words.

"Ah, she doesn't? Maybe she just doesn't see the potential in you..." he suggests, which sets off a chain of events that has Jay knocking over the vase of lilies from the table, spilling water onto the book Sunoo had been reading. He's not sure how the sequence goes exactly, but somehow, he's now standing, nostrils flaring with anger, and Sunghoon's standing just a few inches away from him—a distance that would be really easy to close right now—and there's a wall of small, hexagonal pieces vibrating like a forcefield glowing orange that separates them effectively. If Sunoo's reflexes hadn't stopped him from surging forward anyway, the sleeve of his uniform right now would be burnt black with a huge chunk missing, disintegrating into the air in minute particles.

_The fifth-year protection sigil!_ Sunoo realizes with a start. In a window of less than five hours, Sunghoon's managed to turn his failure into a success, and has even mastered it to the point where he could draw it in the blink of an eye.

Sunghoon lowers his finger smugly and the shield vanishes. Sunoo's skin prickles with goosebumps. Sunghoon's win over him this time round is definitely undisputed and final, and left Sunoo with no space to argue.

"Whoa, Hoon-ah, that could've really resulted in an injury." Jay's the first to speak, and when he does, his words are heavy with a warning tone and grave disappointment. "What if Sunoo actually got wounded?"

"Then he gets burned, what can I do about it? This is a _protection_ sigil."

" _Sunghoon—"_

Sunghoon rolls his eyes, then throws his hands up into the air, frustration written all over his face. For the first time in a while, Sunoo watches the perfect smile slip off Sunghoon's face and it's suddenly replaced by an expression he hasn't seen the boy wear before. It's unreadable. It comes off as worry, but it's probably something else. The thought of being fretted after by one Park Sunghoon draws him a mental image that makes him laugh.

"I'm _kidding_. I wouldn't— _if_ he'd actually gotten burned, it's nothing a _Healer's Rain_ can't fix." _Healer's Rain,_ huh. Sunoo shouldn't even be surprised at this point. It's a sixth-year Spell, and Sunghoon seems to have already mastered it. To his own surprise, he _does_ trust that Sunghoon would fix him up in a heartbeat if he were to get hurt, but Sunoo knows that _he_ wouldn't save Sunghoon from choking on poison even if he knew how. Death isn't even permanent!

"Still, you shouldn't be messing with dangerous shit like this off battlegrounds. If anyone finds out, you could be suspended," Jay insists.

"What! This is just practice!" cries Sunghoon, he's talking to Jay, but his eyes are shifting over to Sunoo's every other second.

" _No_ , it's initiating a duel unprovoked."

The raven-haired boy shakes his head, and strides over to Sunoo, closing the distance between the two of them. With how Sunoo can actually _feel_ the hot breaths of Sunghoon's exhales rustling the top of his head, his tightly clenched fists start trembling at his sides as they hold off casting a spell in retaliation.

"Sunoo, you're... you're _fine_ , right?"

"I'm not," he slowly admits, then looks up to level their gazes. Again, he wishes his wand were here with him right now. Instead, its tucked away into its little cot of a box under his bed in the dorms. He's going to have to settle with being able to threaten Park Sunghoon with his glare. "Listen, I don't know what your problem is, but I know you've hated me even before we properly met. I don't want to know your reasons behind it, and if it's because you're plain discriminatory against people who aren't stuck-up purebloods like _you_ who walk the halls like you own them when in fact, you don't. I have to deal with enough shit from day to day for being here on a scholarship, and you aren't about to ruin this for me."

A deep wrinkle forms between Sunghoon's dark eyebrows and all mischief and impishness dissolves from his eyes in a split second. He's opening his mouth to speak, but when the words don't arrive within the beat, Sunoo squeezes his own in.

"So, you know what? I'll take on your stupid game, Park Sunghoon. For the _whole_ of next month, we can do anything to each other, and the first one to give in has to do the other a favor," he announces with all the bravado filling him up like a tap. But Sunghoon remains unmoved, clearly, because his expression hasn't changed and he looks like he's confused.

"Anything?"

"Spells, pranks, Sigils, potions... _everything_. Just give it your best shot."

"Potions, huh—love potions?" Sunghoon wiggles his brows and bursts out laughing like it's all a joke to him. Something foul is festering in Sunoo's throat and he's fighting an urge to throw up all the vile words he knows at Park Sunghoon. "What, is this your childish grand scheme to make you like you?"

"I'm serious, Park. You better watch your step for the next thirty days. I'm not going to go easy on you."

"Mmh?" Sunghoon's lips curl into a wicked taunt. "You seem pretty determined. What is it you want from me?"

"If you back out first, I want you to _stop_ bothering me. In class, when we cross paths in hallways, in the cafeteria, the arenas—everywhere."

Sunghoon leans back, his hand still in his pocket as he studies the look on Sunoo's face. "Aren't you going to ask me what I want?"

Sunoo breaks their eye contact and clicks his teeth. The older boy's probing the inside of his cheek with his tongue like he's trying to figure something out. He's wearing the expression he has on when he's about to enter the examination hall. Sunoo's caught sight of that a few times, but not on purpose—just, when he's off to wish Jay good luck and Sunghoon happens to be mulling nearby, taking apart problems only he can hear and see inside his head. When he's focused, it's like a completely different person is around. There are no jokes, no snarky remarks, _nothing_. It's like he's become alien, and Sunoo feels a cold tingle travel down his spine. If Sunghoon's taking this as seriously as his exams... he really can't be slacking off at all.

"What," he bites out. "What do you want?"

"When I win, I want you to agree to be my partner in every paired Sigils project from now on. And I hear that you might be enrolled into advanced placement classes to join us fifth-years in some subjects. I want to be your partner in all those as well."

"You're just trying to mess with me till the very end, aren't you," Sunoo seethes.

Sunghoon lowers a finger to Sunoos' face, stopping mere millimeters from his eyes, and the latter doesn't even realize he's stopped breathing altogether. As it turns out, Sunghoon's next move is rather anti-climatic—he brushes away a strand of hair he'd seen poking Sunoo in the eye. Then he's back to his full height, and Sunoo can't wait for the day puberty allows him to catch up to this bastard.

"Then," he says, voice low, " _Lovers' Truce?"_

"W-why can't we just use _Rivals' Reprieve?_ It's the same thing anyway!" he sputters.

"Well, if it's the same thing, it really shouldn't matter." He holds out his hand the way you would when you take an oath, and urges Sunoo to do the same with a nod of his head. Haltingly, Sunoo does meet Sunghoon's palm, and the heat collecting at the hearts of their hands is starting to make him nervous and sweaty. Sunghoon, on the contrary, is just as calm and collected as ever. Just closes his eyes to focus on the spell he's muttering. Sunoo has learned _neither_ of those oath-binding spells, so as much as he detests the idea of it, he has to submit himself completely to plant trust in Sunghoon's ability to pull this off.

The heat grows with the cadence of Sunghoon's voice, and when it's all over, Sunoo pulls back his palm and cradles it carefully with his other hand, holding it to his heart.

"Good luck," Sunghoon wishes him before he leaves without another word.

Neither of them realize that Jay's already left a long time ago.

**DAY 1**

They're queuing for their serving of breakfast when Sunoo first feels a mild, burning sensation flaring up on his sides. The size of the affected area only grows, expanding across his back and threatening to climb up his neck too. He's flushing, and his hands are getting clammy, and sweat is beading on his forehead, but because his hair is brushed down today, not one soul notices until he begins to shake irritably from the uncomfortable layer of warmth enveloping him.

"Are you okay?" Jungwon casts a look over his shoulder. His roommate's right in front of him, and really, they're not really close because Jungwon was the only one attempting to form a connection and eventually stopped trying, but he still tries his best to make sure no one's messing with Sunoo.

The boy's cheeks were full today, his mouth stuffed full with his pre-breakfast ritual of swallowing a small pack of marshmallows. He says that it sweetens the food served, but personally, Sunoo has no vendetta against the cooks at the school. He doesn't know what these rich kids are fed on at _home_ home, but as far as he's concerned, he thinks that the food here is top grade.

He'd usually be bouncing up and down on his soles in excitement, but right now there's something uncertain stirring within him that makes him feel like he's about to explode.

"Dude, your face is all red. Do you need me to bring you to the nurse's?" his roommate asks, definitely out of concern.

Sunoo is... feeling like he's contracted ten different diseases all at once, and then some. He wants to snap at Jungwon, but stops himself just in time. "I don't know what's happening," he whispers, leaning forward so he wouldn't draw more unnecessary attention more than his restless limbs are right now. "I _know_ something's happening I just don't know what."

"Did you eat something bad last night? An allergy, maybe? I didn't see you at dinner."

"No, I just ate some scones at the common area. I— _oh my god_ ," Sunoo deadpans, coming to a realization belatedly. This is, a hundred percent, that asshole's doing.

"What?"

" _Hell_ ," he curses under his breath, "someone's cast a spell on me."

He's growing more crabby by the minute, owing to the mounting discomfort spreading all over his body. If this continues at the same accelerating rate, he might just end up losing his cool in front of the whole student population. As if his reputation isn't already marred enough, thanks to Sunghoon.

"Mischief Magick? Do you know the spell? We could work from there and figure out how to undo it."

There are crescent-shaped indentations on his palm from clenching his fists too hard, but _god_ does he want to punch the fuck out of something right now. "Do you see Park Sunghoon anywhere?"

Jungwon frowns, then carefully guides Sunoo forward as the line moves along steadily. "The fifth-years should be ahead of us. He's probably sat down by now. Why?"

Sunoo scans the crowd already occupying the benches for a familiar face. When he finds what he's looking for, it only gives his burst of anger a final push over the edge. Sunghoon, as per usual, is sitting with his friends, laughing and chatting away, unbeknownst to the misfortune that's about to befall their crowd. The moment Sunghoon looks up, almost like he _knows_ Sunoo's eyes are nailed on him, he actually has the audacity to wink. _Wink._ Without trying to be discreet in the very least.

He forces his fingers to spread at his sides when he casts, " _Head over heels."_

And because no one saw that coming, not even Sunghoon, no one could've possibly prevented the boy's head from slamming into his tomato-drenched grilled cheese. The whole room echoes Jungwon's gasps upon being silenced by the sound of Sunghoon's face meeting his breakfast—the whole room save for Sunoo, that is.

When Sunghoon lifts his head from the table with as much dignity as one could have in such a hot, sticky moment of extreme humiliation, Sunoo bursts out laughing at how the red sauce has seeped into his otherwise pristine uniform. With Sunghoon's concentration in the spell _he'd_ casted on Sunoo interrupted, the latter eventually feels his perpetual fever break, engulfed immediately by the cool air. The tips of his hair are still dripping sweat onto his cheeks, though, and the back of his button-up is soaked through, but at least he's gotten his revenge instantaneously. Sometimes, when karma doesn't do your bidding the right way, you just have to do intercept and do it yourself.

Sunghoon glares at him, with equal parts annoyance and wonder. Wonder, definitely, for knowing _Rhyme and Reason_ spells before even moving up to seventh-year.

These purebloods think they know it all, but really, Sunoo is willing to bet on his scholarship that not one of them present right now would be able to match his prowess in _Rhyme and Reason._

_There's_ the benefit of growing up in a normal household where you learn nursery rhymes by heart before you do the spells and boring stuff.

Sunghoon has himself cleaned up with a practical spell in no time, and Sunoo's not sure if everyone else is seeing what the older boy is mouthing at him. He catches every word, almost like Sunghoon's standing right next to him and not seated a few feet away, clear as day, "Good one. _Game on."_

The thrill of it almost has Sunoo giddily smiling back at Sunghoon like a fool.

_Almost._


	2. The (Bad Days™) Following

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sunoo is so sleep-deprived, he'd believe anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAIT I MADE ART FOR KISS ME BETTER (show me some love on twt too pls :']) also this whole piece just summarizes sunsun's dynamic in kmb

**STILL DAY 1 (MUCH TO THEIR DEMISE)**

Jungwon's still busy trying to catch up to the ongoing bet between Sunoo and Sunghoon by the second period, but even _he_ can tell that his roommate is terribly distracted, which is very peculiar behavior for someone who prides himself on being the professors' pet. Sunoo's eyes keep trailing off to the peer out the windows contemplatively, the constant _tap tap tapping_ of his quill against the dark wood of their table keeping Jungwon from focusing on what's being taught as well. So, he finds himself trying to dissect Sunoo's demeanor for most of the lesson.

He thinks it might be Park Sunghoon who's on his roommate's mind. Merely a wild accusation at best, but _really,_ what else could it be? Every time Sunoo initiates conversation within the walls of their own room, it's almost _always_ about the school's very own prince. The accuracy rate is nothing short of ninety-eight percent. And while Park Sunghoon is a lot of people's favorite subject, he isn't Jungwon's, but the latter indulges in being a good listener to Sunoo because he knows that the boy has enough on his plate as is. Sunoo doesn't need an uncooperative roommate who refuses to fulfill his _Oracle_ duties on top of being discriminated against for being a _halfer_. Besides, he _likes_ Sunoo. 

Sure, he seems to be a _little_ bit obsessed with ranting about their senior, but Jungwon could've gotten assigned to worse cases. The irredeemably annoying ones.

Like Jake, who's rooming with a manic half-pixie who won't stop sprinkling copious mounds of pixie dust into Jake's food for " _protection"_. It drives Jake insane, but he's too nice to say anything about it and has to tolerate coming to school with trails of sparkles falling from his clothes when he makes his way to class every morning. Because _pixie dust?_ That shit gets _everywhere._

He could've also gotten a gnome, who definitely will freak him out by freezing in the middle of their movements for eerie seconds before resuming like nothing happened. Or Orcs. He'd then have to work on his patience because he's heard way too many stories about broken furniture and doorknobs. Sometimes the door comes off the hinges entirely, or at least that's what the rumor mill prints.

In comparison, obviously, Sunoo is _more_ than fine. He's perfectly normal, studies an unhealthy amount by Jungwon's standards, but he's stable and predictable. Their personalities match up and just because Sunoo can start sullenly sulking alone for reasons unknown sometimes doesn't mean the silence in their room is necessarily bad. He _doesn't_ emit weird, negative waves of energy and so long as he can keep out of Jungwon's personal space, he has no reason to complain.

So, when his roommate has to rant a little sometimes to vent about how much he absolutely abhors Park Sunghoon and believes that said guy belongs on the underside of a giant's foot, he sits down and listens intently.

Jungwon just—sometimes... thinks that how much time his version of Sunghoon spends running circles in Sunoo's head could end up being detrimental to Sunoo's health.

See, Yang Jungwon has one principle in life: _you hate it, ignore it_. Evidently, it isn't the type of logic Sunoo prefers to apply to the growing lists of things about their senior that irks him off one way or another.

At that moment, Sunoo's eyes are still nailed onto the glass panes beginning to blur from the frosty weather, but they're glazed over like he's not even in the classroom.

A soft sigh escapes his mouth, a sound that carries all of his heavy thoughts with it, and Jungwon thinks to himself, _yeah._

_He's definitely thinking about Sunghoon. Again._

Alchemy ends before he even manages to digest their professor's last full sentence. He turns to Jungwon, eyes pleading, and finds his situation almost comical. Usually it's the other way round, and his classmates would line up just to read up on small portions of his in-class notes because they're just _that_ good. This time round, he hasn't a single clue what just happened, and the anxiety is starting to skirt around him like a lightning bolt he can't seem to catch and bottle up.

He knows that this bet of theirs is just _exactly_ the kind of distraction he promised he wouldn't drag into his life for fear of forsaking his grades, but he forces himself to look on the bright side: pull this off, and you've ridden yourself of that overgrown pest, _forever._

"Jungwon, did you hear what he said last? Something about a class merging..." he feels awkward begging for information, but his roommate's kind smile is only reassuring and not in the least bit patronizing or smug. He's glad that he has a fixed partner in Alchemy, grateful that said partner happens to be ( _probably)_ his closest friend at school. Jungwon isn't in _all_ his classes though, because he's only sharing a few with Sunoo due to advanced placements. So, unfortunately, he can't be relying a hundred percent on Jungwon today—at some point, he's going to have to pull his act together and leave the plotting to the mystery-cloaked shadows of the night.

"He wants us to join the fifth-years next lesson, so we can pick up on a brewing technique from our peers," the younger boy explains patiently, his dimples playing hide and seek as he speaks. Sunoo rolls his eyes, and regrets it because he can never perfect the motion. Instead of looking intimidating he comes off like he's trying to fish something out of his eyeball. And really, it _does_ hurt.

He presses his lips together. A class with the fifth-years, huh... must be why the energy in the room is reverberating with barely-contained excitement.

" _Tch_. Don't tell me..."

"You guessed it," Jungwon exhales, already expecting what'll come next. "You're going to meet your mortal enemy next lesson."

But if Sunghoon's there, it also means that _Jay_ will be there.

"Are the pairs randomized? Assuming we _are_ working in pairs and not groups," he pursues the answers eagerly, which seems to throw Jungwon off.

Jungwon nods slowly, then swallows. "No, apparently we get to pick who we want. First come first serve kind of situation, I think." His roommate allows them to bask in the suspicious silence for a moment before he nudges Sunoo's shoulder with his own, and the latter is quite surprised to see the apprehensive worry coloring his features. "That's a scheming face right there," he tells Sunoo, jabbing a finger at the boy. "Look, I don't necessarily agree with this... challenge of yours with Sunghoon, but really—is it worth sacrificing your forecast grades over?"

"I do _not_ have a scheming face." Sunoo stands up abruptly, clutching his books tightly to his pounding heart. "And who said anything about sacrificing _my_ grades?"

"That look of yours isn't exactly innocent," Jungwon points out as he mirrors Sunoo's action. They collect their stuff quickly and prepare to rush to the next classroom, but Jungwoon _clearly_ remains worried.

Sunoo only casts a smile over his shoulders, neither confirming nor denying it.

The rest of the day passes without a hitch, and it's been so quiet that even Sunoo is starting to suspect this is the calm before the storm. Though, if Sunghoon is planning something sinister and dark to tail Sunoo that night, he better be prepared to accept his fruitless efforts. They'd just had Summoning and Binding today, and every once in a month, the students get to perform the Calling ceremony, where they essentially welcome their bound familiars from their nests in the ether. Depending on how strong-willed your familiars are, the reunion could last anywhere from three hours up to three days before they're expected to return to restore energy.

Most of the legacy students have familiars that are bred exclusively for their House. Or, under the circumstances that the young mage has the power to do so, there are cases where multiple familiars are bound to a single being. It's taxing, and there are always going to be fights for the summoner's attention among the familiars themselves, but Sunoo has to admit that there's a stab of jealousy whenever he compares his own power pool to theirs.

He's not weak. Anyone can attest to that. But he just doesn't have the luxury to be able to afford having more than one familiar at the moment. They require attention and care, and their existence feeds off of your power, your stamina. Sunoo barely has enough for himself in duels as is. He's a gifted Spellcaster and an adept learner, but if he has to divert his attention on a battlefield for even more than a second, he knows that would be a duel lost. He's just not that good at teamwork, it seems.

Nikolai, his little fox, is only ever summoned to quell Sunoo's loneliness.

Foxes are common creatures dwelling about in the ether, and generally, the first time you scry into their dimension to pick out your miniature protector, you'd avoid them. They're fast and have keen, heightened senses, but no one really wants something just _anyone_ can have.

First year Sunoo really didn't want a fox, either. The weeks prior to the annual Binding Ceremony, the first years were all given priority to enter the ether almost every other day since they had to build a bond, a dependable connection, with the creature of their choosing to ensure that everything goes smoothly during the process. He remembers all the nights spent tearing through book after book in the library where only the stub of a candle accompanied him, all because he was determined to _wow_ the whole school by bringing back something of mythic rank, something unheard of. It didn't take long for him to discover that his body simply couldn't handle it—he's always been rather weak physically. Something you couldn't tell if you didn't pry beyond the surface of his bright disposition. But on the third day, Sunoo actually _collapsed_ in the ether.

With so many students to look after, the professors had their hands full, and it didn't come to their attention that Sunoo had needed immediate help until much later. But he woke to the wet nose of a tiny white fox determinedly pressing his snout into his cheek. When it realized that Sunoo was coming to, he'd leapt away, but hadn't made it far before Sunoo caught up.

Sunoo figured it was unusual—foxes were known to be agile... and here this little guy was, cowering in fear, sitting on its hind legs like he didn't know what to do. Sunoo had gathered the creature into his cupped hands and upon further inspection, it finally dawned on him that this fox was, still, merely just a cub. Possibly separated from his family. Judging by his broken right hind leg, he might've run into some trouble out there, too. 

He didn't know what it was that spurred him to make such a rash decision, but Sunoo decided right then and there that this little fox, with his patchy snow coat and curious yellow eyes, was fated to be bound to him.

He really had no idea how right he was.

But he knows now, and that's all that matters. Nikolai would be watching over him tonight, and what he lacked in size and sheer strength, he made up for in intelligence and dexterity. If Sunghoon's planning an ambush tonight, he's going to have to deal with _both_ of them.

He's sitting cross-legged on the same lounge with Nikolai curled up in his lap when someone walks in again, but this time it isn't Jay.

"Sweetheart," Sunghoon greets, swooping in to claim a seat opposite Sunoo. He's barely spared Nikolai a glance, and that seems to have offended his familiar a little, because he, too, haughtily lifts his head momentarily to huff in the older boy's direction. Sunoo runs his knuckles gently along his spine to calm him down and this seems to do the trick. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Seriously, Park? You're the one who came to find me," he replies curtly. He'd originally intended to ignore the boy's presence entirely, but Sunghoon seems to know every button he can possibly push to gauge a reaction out of him. _Sweetheart's_ got him all flustered for reasons unknown, and he's keeping his fingers crossed that the bewilderment doesn't show up on his face. He doesn't need to hand over another reason for Sunghoon to gloat and claim yet another victory over _his_ emotions. Jungwon's mentioned it once in the passing, and Sunoo had refuted it continuously then, but he thinks his roommate may be right. When it comes to controlling his feelings, Sunghoon's in possession of the remote, more so than he is.

"Figured you might be waiting for me here," explains the boy, carding a hand through his smooth locks.

"You know what, I think it's time for me to go to bed—"

"What?" Sunghoon pouts, bottom lip jutting out, "It's not even nine yet. Better spill your heart's contents while I'm still here, Sunoo-ah. I'm rather introverted, you know—it isn't easy to catch me outside my room. Now that you have me all to yourself here, are you sure there's nothing you'd like to tell me?"

Sunoo raises an eyebrow, then scoops Nikolai up with a hand, giving his familiar a boost to curl up around his neck. " _Introverted?"_ he snorts, disbelieving. "I might consider indulging in your lies if you'd told a less obvious one."

He's got to admit—it's funny to picture Sunghoon, the social butterfly slash self-proclaimed prince, as an introvert. He's _everywhere_ Sunoo looks. Appears so frequently that Sunoo's beginning to think that their "chance encounters" are merely little trips and detours Sunghoon deliberately makes to bump into him and ruin his days. As far as Sunoo is concerned, Sunghoon is, in his book, everything but a damn introvert.

Sunghoon shifts closer so that he's sitting on the edge of the velvet lounge, hands clasped together between his thighs. "It's true, really... I'm an incredibly shy person."

"Which is the reason why you flirt with everything that has a heartbeat...?"

"Not everything," the older boy protests. He begins levitating a single stalk from the bunch of lilies and keeps it floating in the air. Sunoo clenches his teeth and forces a smile, the pen inside his head already starting on the next reason why he absolutely loathes the boy: his random displays of power. He's always wasting away his Magick like he doesn't need all of it, and Sunoo can't help but feel like all that potential is being wasted on an unappreciative jerk like Sunghoon, who doesn't even care about Magick as much as he does. Who doesn't take the time to learn everything about what he wields, and refuses to treat it like it deserves to be treated: with respect. Sunoo feels his left eye twitch and he rubs the heel of his palm roughly against the skin there to hide the show of irritation from Sunghoon. "Don't do that—it'll give you wrinkles," the older boy warns.

"Right. You don't waste your time on halfers like me," Sunoo blurts out, just to change the subject. He doesn't like that the older boy pretends to care for him every once in a while, either. It pisses him off. " _Your shoelaces are untied, be careful not to trip", "Sunoo-ah, slow down with the eating or you'll throw it all back up", "You shouldn't be running in the halls unless you're trying to fall"._ He isn't accustomed to hearing warm words like that coming from Sunghoon. They just seek to worm their way into Sunoo's heart to create a dull discomfort there that lasts for whole days and weeks.

Sunghoon's his rival. His mortal enemy. But Sunoo knows nothing about the boy beyond his grades and what he's heard from grapevines over the years, while Sunghoon seems to know... too much about him.

It's just a strange feeling he doesn't know how to decipher. And whatever he can't make sense of, Sunoo stores away.

"Do you want me to?" questions Sunghoon, his expression as serious as ever. When Sunoo doesn't respond immediately, he further elaborates, "Spend time flirting with you."

"No!" he cries, stirring Nikolai from its sleep. "W-why would I—"

"It's just a joke, relax," the fifth-year assures, melting back into his regular, smug son-of-a-bitch smile. He makes a gesture with his index and middle fingers and the fresh, pink sprout floats over to Sunoo, hovering right before his face, waiting to be accepted. "Because if you want, I can _._ "

The younger boy scowls and slaps the flower away. "Park, just get it over with please. What are you here for?"

Sunghoon's eyes narrow. He's going to regret ever thinking it's strangely attractive the way Sunghoon can swap out one expression for another in a split second. "How'd you learn to cast head over heels?"

Sunoo freezes up, thinking Sunghoon might _actually_ be casting the spell in retaliation, but the inflections aren't there and the tone isn't right. It's a spell he hasn't figured out yet. Sunoo feels a genuine smile creeping back onto his lips as he lets himself dwell in the satisfaction of knowing something the older boy doesn't. Then he realizes—"How'd you know that's what I cast?"

"You're not the only one who's familiar with a few spells like that."

His brain starts working through the list of possible spells Sunghoon could be referring to—all the ones he knows, anyway. "Hear, hear?"

"You worked that out pretty fast," he acknowledges.

"You were _spying in on my conversations?"_

"I wanted to see how you'd react to my little surprise. Don't worry, it wasn't for too long, since my face was smashed into the table right after."

Nikolai yaps his little laugh, jeering at Sunghoon, to which Sunoo approvingly pats his head for. "You deserved that."

"Oh, how I love it when you sweet talk me..." Sunghoon moons with an exaggerated smile of longing, bending down to retrieve the fallen pink flower off of the floor. He brings it to his nose to take a whiff dramatically and smirks against the petals. "You heard about the merge for Alchemy?" A nod is all he spares as a response. "Wanna partner up with me?"

"Why, so you can blow up the potion in my face?"

"No, I don't like going for the obvious," the older boy shrugs, and Sunoo pinks because he's just been indirectly insulted. That _was_ one option out of the many he'd come up with so far to mess with Sunghoon in Alchemy. He can cross it off the list, no problem. If there's one thing they can both agree on, it's that there are far better ways to torture your partner when you're both working on brews. "You're good at Alchemy—you'd be easy to teach. I suspect my grades won't tank s'long as you pull your weight as well."

"And if I sabotage you by making you choke dead on smoke?"

"There's not going to be any fire, sweetheart," Sunghoon says as he stands, brushing off fur only he can see off of his uniform. Sunoo's about to gag at the usage of the term of endearment again when Sunghoon gets his next words in—"Haven't you heard? We're making a love potion."

_Motherfucker._

**DAY 4**

By the time day four rolls around, nothing much has happened. Sunoo manages to trip Sunghoon a few times when he spies the older boy walking at the head of his tightly-knit circle, but that's about it. The fifth-year, much to his surprise, hasn't made any effort—that Sunoo can tell—to exact revenge on him yet, which keeps Sunoo on his toes for most parts of his days. He keeps anticipating a swarm of bees to chase him round the field or more bursts of Mischief Magick at unexpected intervals or even crudely drawn Sigils to alter his mood and bring his misfortune, but there's... nothing. And it's making him antsy and restless not knowing what to expect. Nikolai had to leave yesterday, so he's even more emotionally vulnerable ever, which is definitely a state he does _not_ recommend being in right before you're venturing to make your own love potion.

It's no longer a secret that they're making one, and the whole room is alight with the cacophony of nervous giggles and soft murmurs punctuated by muffled squeals. Sunoo gets it—if it weren't for the fact that he's actively boycotting boys (boy _boycott—hah!)_ to avoid tripping and falling in love, _he_ would be all aflutter, too. Many of the fifth-years are icons of admiration, mostly known for their looks. And on Valentine's, one of the few holidays that the Magi have adapted in favor of creating their own version, some of their seniors have to carry around whole bags to keep all the gifts they get.

It hurts to think about Valentine's, considering how the gift he'd fashioned for Jay this year still sits atop his dresser to this day. He's going to have to discard it at some point, but it feels wrong to do so. Sunoo reallywanted to give Jay the gift, and he even had a speech prepared about how it's just a casual exchange of presents between friends, but the senior had been so _swamped_ with admirers that halfway through the day, Sunoo eventually stopped seeking out opportunities to have a private minute with the boy.

They're using a larger space just for today, but because everyone's moving around so much, it feels much, much tighter. He wraps his arms around himself and takes a step back so that he's closer to his roommate, who's scanning the room curiously without saying a single word.

He's sure that Jungwon's social life isn't as devastating a story as Sunoo's is. In fact, he's acquainted with some of Jungwon's friends, with emphasis on _acquainted._ With Niki and Heeseung, he doesn't think he's spoken more than ten words to them since they were introduced to each other. Eventually, Jungwon took the hint that Sunoo prefers to be on his own and has stopped trying since. So, Sunoo appreciates that even in a room so crowded with far more interesting people to speak to, Jungwon stays by his side even if they aren't even that close.

Suddenly, the doors to the classroom fly open and Professor Kim strides in. He's a very straightforward, no-nonsense person, so Sunoo doesn't find it strange that he heads straight to the grand escritoire up front, where the professor's station is, and jumps right into the lesson.

He isn't the type to dwell on greetings, either, so soon enough, Sunoo's teeth are sinking into his bottom lip as they're being told what to do next.

"Now," his voice booms, aided by the amplifying sigil he's speaking through, "I don't know the news got out, but apparently everyone seems to know which potion we're working on today. It _sounds_ fun, but bear in mind that a love potion is one of the hardest to master, because the technique it requires isn't something I can... teach. Not quite, anyway. I already ran over the instructions with the fifth-years once, so they'll be looking after you today making sure no one dies." Sunoo waits for the beat to pass, hoping that the professor would mention that it was just a joke told in a flat voice, but it doesn't come. He's heard that love potions can be dangerous, but not _lethal._ "I'm giving you all five minutes or so to find a partner, then we'll start."

It's a two-hour session today. Two hours spent with a stranger Sunoo might end up hating anyway.

"Any idea who you're going for?" Jungwon asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. It's endearing how his dimples keep surfacing like they're arriving to say hi. Lately, Sunoo's been feeling an intense urge to drive a finger into them to learn what dimples actually feel like.

Their professor's already given them the go-ahead, but no one's moving because no one _wants_ to make the first move. Sunoo frowns—this is starting to feel more like a blind date than it is an Alchemy lesson. Of course he wants a good partner, someone who's reliable so that he's sure that he won't be the only one working to keep their grades afloat. No one's mentioned if they will be judged individually or based on how well they work in tandem with their partner, but there's a small part in Sunoo that's already given up on hoping for someone decent.

"I'll just... see who ends up without a partner and pair up with them I guess," he mumbles, slightly embarrassed that _that's_ his plan.

People are starting to drift around, hesitant and halting in their steps like bumblebees doing their mating dance. ( _Do_ bumble bees have mating dances?) Now it looks like an episode of one of those crappy, stupidly addictive TV shows he watches with his parents when he's back in the Normals' realm. The Bachelors, or something like that. "You don't have to wait for me, making new friends is kinda your thing," he tells Jungwon, who _definitely_ looks like he's blushing. "Why, is there someone you're thinking of asking?"

"No, I— _ugh,"_ his roommate groans, then slap both his hands to his burning cheeks as if that'll drain off the red color. "There's a senior I think is pretty cool, I guess. You know him."

_No fucking way in hell._

_"Sunghoon?"_ he hisses.

"No, Sunghoon's friend. The one who's always hanging out with him."

"I don't pay as much attention to who he hangs with as you might think."

"The _blonde_ one."

Oh. _Oh._

That makes sense. Sunoo tries to mask the surprise— _or maybe it's disappointment?_ —but he realizes he can't, so he lets his eyes fall to the ground, searching for something dropped that's never existed. He bends down, tying his perfectly tied shoelaces, wondering how long he can drag this out before he's expected to respond, when he finds himself staring at another pair of shoes, brightly shined and made of expensive leather. He looks up, and if it's even possible, feels his heart drop a few more levels underground.

It's Sunghoon, and forming a circle around him—and by extension, around Sunoo as well—are his countless ardent devotees.

"Need help with that?" the senior asks, and a small wave of hushed whispers crashes into the crowd of onlookers. He's growing redder by the minute and the fact that Park Sunghoon is extending a hand out to him right now doesn't help the situation. He keeps his chin tucked in so that he can hide as much of his face as possible. What telenovela is this even?

When he feels like he's calm enough, he rises on his own, pointedly ignoring Sunghoon's offer.

"Yes, Park, what do you want," he exhales, resigning to his fate. Well, if Sunghoon's been building up the anticipation to embarrass him all in one go, now's the time. He's so tired he might as well give up already. But Sunghoon's staring at him strangely and he wills himself to stay and listen to what the fifth-year's got to say first before he heads to the bathroom for some much-needed solitude.

"You never really gave me an answer that day," Sunghoon says, closely watching Sunoo's expression like he's expecting a reaction.

He really doesn't know what Sunghoon wants, and he's growing more fidgety under so many pairs of eyes, so he doesn't answer.

"I asked you if you wanted to partner up with me," the older boy reminds him, words slowed and carefully pronounced so there's no way Sunoo could mistake them for something else. "Is that a yes, or a no?"

Sunoo freezes. It takes whole minutes for him to _really_ process what Sunghoon just said. Then he catches Jay's eyes, and he thinks of Jungwon, and barely tips his head to nod, which drives the crowd wild with an emotion he can't distinguish as excitement or despair. Professor Kim claps to draw everyone's attention and spares them two more minutes. Sunoo ducks his head further, if it's even possible, upon the thought of their professor watching all of that unfold. He's sure that the professors aren't strangers to the concept of gossiping about their students' lives. And when you teach at a school that runs for so many months before the next term break, you're bound to resort to tuning in to rumors for entertainment.

"Let's go," he mumbles, letting Sunghoon pull him to their station.

"You don't seem too happy about this arrangement," Sunghoon notes as he adjusts the ingredients laid out across the space.

"Do I look like I'm the kind of person to look forward to spending time with my enemy?"

"I wouldn't call us _enemies_ ," Sunghoon ponders, producing a shiny apple from seemingly nowhere to snack on.

The younger boy tears his eyes away from Jay and Jungwon's retreating figures and casts a questioning look at Sunghoon. "What, do you just keep around a bunch of fruits to eat them in class."

Sunghoon grins, satisfied that he's finally getting some response to his shenanigans, and leans towards Sunoo with his elbows propped up on the surface, supporting most of his weight. "No, this was a gift."

"From your admirer," he snorts, letting his eyes travel to the coffered ceiling where he engages in a staring battle with a speck of dust.

" _Admirers_. Plural."

"Ever so cocky," the fourth-year grumbles, forcing his gaze to land on the sink, polished but slightly yellowed from age. If he lets his eyes wander as they wish, he knows where they'd go. And right now, he doesn't need to see Jungwon and Jay frolicking through the damn flowers hand in hand to further dampen his mood. "I bet you're using enchanting spells to preserve your popularity."

"Why?" Sunghoon slides in closer as he questions, "Do you perhaps feel _enchanted_ by yours truly?"

If looks could kill, Sunghoon would drop dead right now, right this second. And Sunoo would laugh hysterically over his dead body with no regrets. When he was young he'd never aspired to be a murderer, but if he knew that a few years down the line he'd meet someone as vexing as Sunghoon is, that would've changed a long time ago. "Do I _look_ like it?" The words ripped out his throat as a reply, the bite to them released with not much restraint on Sunoo's part.

"You look like my work in progress," Sunghoon hums as he fiddles with the ingredients, getting used to where each item is placed. Wordlessly, Sunoo does the same. There's no chance he'd let Sunghoon show him up in Alchemy now, especially not when his practical grade is on the line. It's only the fourth day but he's already feeling so worn out, it's almost like he's a tire on a car that's been on the road for ten consecutive hours now. He can't believe he was stupid enough to pose this challenge to Park Sunghoon like a half-baked idiot. It's _Park Sunghoon._ The ever-draining Park Sunghoon who's rumored to be a vampire because of how quickly he wears out the people around him. His presence alone swings like the blade of blood-infused scythe curving over Sunoo's shoulder, threatening to cut down and claim another clean kill—it's so intolerable that Sunoo doesn't know how much more of this torture he can endure.

Sunghoon's voice itself feels like sandpaper being rubbed roughly against his skin, tearing off layer after layer of his patience like it's nothing.

But it's not like losing is an option now, not when he considers what Sunghoon would be entitled to after gloating about his victory. _Four, five_ more years of being Sunghoon's partner. He'd rather drop out.

"Why didn't you find one of your admirers to partner up with you instead?" he asks, the question making a burst of bitterness explode in the back of his dry tongue.

"I told you. I don't like talking to strangers," answers Sunghoon smoothly like it's a fact Sunoo should've known.

" _I'm_ a stranger."

"We've known each other for four years. We're not strangers," he says decidedly, so firm that it leaves no room for argument. It's not like he could say anything in response even if he had a snarky reply to offer anyway, cause Professor Kim, who's still planted at his station with his gloved hands clasped behind his back, starts announcing to the class that they are to begin. Sunghoon bites off the last bit of the apple with a crisp crunch and chucks the core into the bin below their table. "Shall we start?"

The younger boy doesn't reply, just reaches for the book where the instructions will be written down and explained clearly. Just as he finds the right page, though, a hand gently presses the book shut and Sunoo looks up fuming to meet Sunghoon's eyes.

"Stop fooling around, Park. I didn't partner up with you to get a bad grade."

"Really, Sunoo, have you even read up on love potions yet?" he sighs.

"Of course I have," Sunoo scowls, increasing the strength of his grip on the leather-bound book. "But I haven't had the damn recipe memorized yet." He tugs hard and Sunghoon tugs harder.

"There's no _recipe_."

"If there wasn't one, we wouldn't need ingredients."

"Are you trying to make a love potion, or a _good_ love potion?" Sunghoon's lifted an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth downturned to show his displeasure like Sunoo's trying to drive him up against a wall instead of it being the other way round. Still, what with the way Sunghoon's got his eyes trained on him, it makes the latter feel like a child being reprimanded and he lowers his gaze albeit begrudgingly. "I'm not trying to say I'm better than you in any way," he adds softly. "I'm just saying... that you're kinda missing the whole point of this lesson. We're supposed to learn from each other and I have no doubt you're going to show off stuff _I_ haven't learned yet, but right now just trust me first, yeah?"

The fourth-year nods, and pulls his hand back like he'd burned it. Sunghoon, thankfully, lets him go this time and doesn't comment on it.

"So, what's the first step?"

His senior's sleazy smile is back, and he claps his hands together in anticipation. "I thought you'd never ask. So, we're making this for you."

"Are we?"

" _Yes._ The fifth-years already made our own last week." Sunoo mumbles a soft " _Oh",_ distracted by the familiar sound of Jungwon's laughter floating from the back of the class. He can't help but think that Jay must be laughing with him, or the reason he's even laughing in the first place. He casts a short glance at Sunghoon and his frown returns. He can't help but compare their situations. He literally got the worst possible option, and meanwhile Jungwon...

_You will not be jealous, Kim Sunoo,_ he reiterates in his head, _you're here to learn, and this is for the best._

"So we need an item of yours to mix in. Preferably gifted to you by someone else attached to a good memory—the nature of the item will determine the potency of your potion. The stronger your feelings in relation to the gift, the stronger your potion ends up being."

"I don't have anything with me—"

Sunghoon reaches for something past his head, his arm shooting out so suddenly Sunoo had thought he should dodge it to evade a punch. The grim, faked sternness on Sunghoon's face melts into a sweet— _pure sleaze—_ smile and he hears the older boy's fingers _snap_ near his right ear. He pulls away, thinking the jerk must be playing a trick again, when Sunghoon takes a step closer and presents the boy with a perfect dandelion, its head still intact with every tiny sprout of white fluff resembling snow. "Now you do."

He tries to hide his shock but figures it's useless anyway—the surprise is written all over his face.

"What spell was that?"

If Sunghoon's disappointed that _that's_ what he chooses to ask, of all things, he's great at masking it for pride. "Besides _Fresh As a Daisy?_ Nothing." 

"How'd you make it... appear out of nowhere then?"

"It's a magic trick."

"Street magic?"

"Sure," Sunghoon shrugs, then gently places the delicate dandelion into the cup of Sunoo's outspread hands. "If that's what you want to call it. We all had to prepare a gift for our partners, I hope you don't mind getting a flower."

The younger boy drops the dandelion bluntly on to the chopping board and reached for a small hammer, and Sunghoon watches with a frown but doesn't voice out his thoughts.

Sunoo sighs, " I guess our potion's not going to be effective, then."

"Ah, really? I thought receiving a gift from the school prince would do the trick," Sunghoon muses, the corners of his lips twitching with an inane itch to smile. "Are you really sure your heart didn't flutter? Even a little?"

He places a hand over his heart and pretends to immerse himself in deep thought for just a second, hitting his chest a few times for good measure, before exchanging his pensive expression for an icy cold one. "No, I'm sure it's only hate I feel. That, and a very strong sense of annoyance like something's constantly pestering me."

"Maybe a mosquito," Sunghoon supplies helpfully.

"An overgrown one with spindle legs and a jutting mouth."

"Sounds like a very handsome mosquito. Wouldn't you love to be bitten by it." At first, Sunoo's already turned away, hand raised mid-air to bring the force down to _absolutely_ obliterate this stupid dandelion that's managed to sway his heart a little bit—made him feel like a bare dandelion after the wind has gotten its hands on him, when suddenly, the feeling of a fingerpad running down his neck jolts him out of his rage-driven trance. He hisses a curse and pulls away from Sunghoon, who's standing behind him, looking over his shoulder, hands clasped behind his back looking as innocent as a devil can appear.

"What the hell was that?" he demands.

"Nothing," the fifth-year quickly dismisses. Sunoo's not so quick to ignore that and brush it off like it never happened.

With his eyes narrowed in suspicion, he lowers his voice and speaks, "You've heard the rumors yourself, haven't you?"

Sunghoon rolls his eyes and feigns ignorance. To his credit, his gaze on Sunoo doesn't waver, not even for a millisecond. "Which rumors are we discussing, Sunoo? I'm a man shrouded in mystery after all. Rumors about me are dime a dozen."

"That you, you know,"—Sunghoon raises an eyebrow, prompting him to continue, and Sunoo has to wet his dry lips before he continues—"are a _vampire."_

Sunoo isn't sure what he was expecting to happen—for a transformation to take place, maybe. With bats and thick clouds of smoke permeating the air, obstructing their eyesight. Or maybe a glint of white fangs in the sun, a flash of unfocused, blood-shot eyes... Perhaps _denial_. Sunghoon would laugh his ass off and call Sunoo stupid for indulging in such absurd hearsay. But Sunghoon merely smirks, wrapping his long fingers around Sunoo's to crush the dandelion himself, without even the slightest hint of hesitation.

"I don't know, Sunoo. What do you think? Maybe if you visited me at night I'll tell you part of the truth."

With a hum, Sunghoon detaches himself from Sunoo and goes about arranging the ingredients and gathering the equipment they need like he didn't just basically admit to the fact that he's of supernatural descent. _Not just any supernatural descent,_ Sunoo reminds himself with a shiver like an electric bolt running down the length of his spine, _a vampire_. A species of demons tied to the earth, which allows them to walk amongst the others and breathe the same air and play charades pretending to be one of them.

He can't help but recall how Sunghoon's hand on his had left a burn, but not one that hurt like his skin was going to peel off like bark on a tree.

Rather, it'd felt like ice.

**DAY 8**

It feels like Sunoo's limbs are about to fall off.

After the merged Alchemy class, they learned that for the next three weeks, the fourth and fifth years are going to be meeting still, to slowly and carefully brew their potion to perfection. So, they'd left the first class with inconclusive results, their progress barely reaching a quarter of what's to come next. See, that isn't what's been bothering Sunoo, slowly eating away at his sanity and by extension, Yang Jungwon's.

"You've been tapping your pen on that desk for almost _two hours now_ ," his roommate says, bed creaking as he tosses himself over to try sleeping on his other side. 

"I'm studying," Sunoo replies absentmindedly. He's about to tap his pen again, when he catches himself and bites on the top of it instead. It's gross, he knows, but he's also treading on dangerously thin ice here. Park Sunghoon is a _vampire?_ And he's the only one in the school who seems to know for sure that he is... The whole situation sounds ridiculous. How can their headmaster _not_ be aware? He must be—it's just that he doesn't care. But how can he not? Vampires pose such a big threat to the community. They're blood-sucking freaks who've killed and proven themselves to be a violent species. The history behind their pact with the Magi isn't that different from the Orcs. But the vampires have toed the line drawn by the Council one too many times to be written off as mere " _accidents"._ They're practically _the_ enemy.

"No, _you're not,"_ Jungwoon says, his words muffled by the pillow he's trying to suffocate himself with. "You're disturbing my peace."

"Do you want me to turn off my desk lamp?" Sunoo offers, hoping that'll sate Jungwon long enough to buy some time and _think._ Sunghoon's presence here could be a planned infiltration.

But he's a legacy student... so could that mean that the headmaster's in on this as well? Or just that he comes from a family so affluent they could stuff the money-hungry higher-ups' mouths with cash to keep it a secret for as long as they intend to drag out this facade? Could Sunoo alone be enough to unmask Sunghoon for who he really is? Now that he thinks about it, there have been one too many times where Sunghoon doesn't show up for breakfast to catch some "more sleep". And his teeth shine so brightly in the light—a side benefit of being a vampire?

"How're you going to study with the lights off? Just stop thinking about whatever it is that's been on your mind the past few days and _go to sleep_. Or take this to the damn library."

"You know what? You're right—I'll take this to the library," he hurriedly says, standing up so quickly his chair screeches against the floor and incites another tortured wail from Jungwon.

"Whatever you want. Just thought I'd remind you that you have a test tomorrow. A test you might fail if you don't sleep tonight—"

Jungwon's words go in one ear and out the other, because Sunoo is already packing all he needs for his clandestine pursuit for truth and justice tonight. He throws on a scarf to keep himself warm— _and hide his neck—_ and swings his loaded tote bag over his shoulder, nearly tripping as he shoves his feet forcefully into his only pair of shoes. He really needs to get himself some slippers from the market on their next trip out the school.

"You know, Jungwon, when all of this is over, you're going to be thanking me," he throws over his shoulder.

"I'll thank you _now_ , for letting me sleep in peace."

He closes the door softly and lets go of the doorknob when he hears the soft _click_. Even a sound as soft as that seems as disruptive as a scream would be in the eerie silence. The dorms are in a completely different wing from the library, so he's going to have to make the long trip there. There are no shortcuts for him tonight.

Sunoo feels his skin prickling like there's another presence haunting him silently, waiting for an opportunity to seize hold of his soul. Being one of the oldest academies in the world of Magick, their school was no stranger to ghost stories that have been passed down and made scarier from year to year. Sunoo always pretends to delve deep into a book when discussions of the ghosts lingering around start in classes or self-study sessions, but he's been listening alright. 

The hallways seem to have lengthened into twice the size they normally are in the day, and silver moonlight paints the floor tiles in little squares like they're beckoning Sunoo closer. He hugs the bag tighter to his chest.

Someone is really following him.

He feels it...

His heart pounds faster, urging the adrenaline rush in his veins to run faster. _Run, run run—_

Just as he's about to break into a sprint to make for the door at the end of the hall, a hand— _non-spectral, thank god—_ presses down on his shoulder and squeezes. " _Boo."_ Ghosts don't have physical bodies they can take hold of, so Sunoo knows that he isn't being hunted by a damn _ghost_ , but who knows what the fuck could be standing right behind him like an ominous harbinger of death right now, so he yelps in surprise and squeezes his eyes shut hoping it'll be over soon.

" _Fuh—"_

"Tsk, you have such a potty mouth," berates the familiar voice.

Sunoo whips around, his face as white as a sheet of paper. _Park Sunghoon?_

"S-stay away," he warns, finger already raised and ready to form a defense Sigil. He runs through all the ones he knows in his head, assessing the damage each one could land.

Sunghoon's hair is still wet like he's been exercising. And it isn't styled in its usual manner, which means he hadn't planned on getting caught tonight. Who knows what the hell he was up to? All Sunoo knows is that it definitely isn't something good. "Really, Sunoo? _You're_ asking me to stay away? I have a feeling that you're the one who's up and about looking for me."

"This isn't a _joke_."

Sunghoon sighs. "Right. Begin your interrogation, I suppose. You must have a thousand."

_Try a million._

Good. Straight to the point. All the more easier for Sunoo to expose this wolf hiding in the midst of lambs. "What were you doing not sleeping?"

"Could ask you the same thing..." the fifth-year mumbled beneath his breath. It's disconcerting to see Sunghoon without his usual smile. The one he uses when there's an audience watching the both of them to make sure that a fight doesn't break out and a duel isn't called. He growls and repeats his question, inching a foot forward to position himself the way he's been taught in his Duel lessons. "Look, sometimes I have trouble sleeping so I go out for a jog and grab some snacks on the way back, okay."

"Snacks?"

"I have a sweet tooth," the boy shrugs nonchalantly.

" _Sweet tooth,"_ Sunoo grits, jaws clenched, "for all I know, your ' _snacks'_ could refer to the blood of one of those admirers of yours."

"And if it does?" Sunghoon takes a brave step forward and Sunoo's body reacts immediately—his heartbeat speeds up so much, the jump in its tempo makes his head spin. Sweat coats his palms and he thinks this might truly be the end. He's too nervous to even properly draw and activate an effective Sigil, and his tongue is so tied up he might not even have the ability to cast any spell right. "What, Kim Sunoo... are you mad jealous that your neck is not the one I'm drinking from?" He closes the distance by another step, and now, the tip of Sunoo's casting finger is pressed straight into Sunghoon's chest, aimed at his heart.

Sunoo hates to admit it, but he's trembling and scared out of his wits. In the moonlight, Sunghoon's eyes didn't seem to be _just_ brown, and the red of his lips stood out like he'd had them painted with blood prior to their meeting. He's always been taller than Sunoo, of course, but tonight, his shadow towers over Sunoo's just _that much more._ Has he always been this intimidating?

Has Sunoo just never noticed because, in the comfort of his classroom, he always had his spells and quick wits to weave around himself like a protective net? Where were they now?

" _Sunoo-ah,"_ the fifth-year whispers, bringing his voice to a low rumble. He leans in closer—"Do you prefer... carrot cake or lemon meringue pie?"

_What the—_

His face must reflect the confusion he feels, the edges still stained and dripping with fear, but Sunghoon's laugh breaks the terrifying veneer he put up for a total of five minutes and Sunoo's eyes are stinging from not blinking. Sunoo takes the opportunity to shove Sunghoon away from him.

"Do you _seriously_ believe that I'm a vampire? Of all things?"

He flushes. He hates being put in this position, being laughed at like he's _stupid_. "You check all the boxes!" he argues.

"Oh yeah? Which ones?" In true Park Sunghoon style, he finds a pillar and leans against it as he scans Sunoo up and down. "I like your scarf. It goes very well with your pajamas. The blue and yellow _really_ makes me wanna bite your neck and drain you dry."

Sunoo sputters and holds up his hands defensively.

"I'm _kidding_ , Sunoo. Do I have really have to clarify that every time I make a joke? Because that's going to be really tiring on my part. Being serious isn't one of my _fortes,_ but I truly excel in the art of 'looking away pensively in the sunlight so people can admire my side profile', which is obviously something a vampire wouldn't be able to do."

"You seem to know a lot about a vampire's weaknesses for someone who's supposedly _not_ one of them."

"For god's sake!" Sunghoon cries, throwing his hands up in defeat. "That's basically common knowledge."

"Not as common as you might think," Sunoo counters, attempting to bait him.

" _Yes, common_ ," the fifth-year insists, shaking his head with a dumbfounded smile, then mutters to himself, "I can't believe he thinks I'm a vampire..."

Sunoo shoves his outspread palm in the older boy's face and starts counting down the reasons, "First off, you're physically strong. Almost impossibly so for someone your age—"

"I work out a lot, so thank you for noticing my efforts."

"—you're constantly out there, _cajoling_ people into doing your biddings—"

" _Cajoling_ , huh? Is that what you think of me?"

"—you enchant everyone around you! It doesn't make any sense that the whole school's in love with everything you do, _including the professors._ They all seem to excuse your mistakes, release you early from detention, you win every duel you're engaged in—"

"Everyone... are _you_ in love with everything I do, Kim Sunoo? And maybe I win every duel because I'm just _that_ skilled—"

"—sneaking out in the middle of the night while everyone's asleep to prey on your victims—"

"I told you, I _always_ have trouble falling asleep. And the only things I prey on at night are cakes and sweets from the snack bar. Did you know they're open twenty-four seven? Cause they are. God bless this school... it's comforting to know they _truly_ look out for us."

"—and _you're always in perfect shape!_ Not hair out of place, never a smile slipping. You look good in every picture you're in, it's almost like witchcraft!"

"Oh my, my, Sunoo-ah. I never thought you saw me as something so perfect. Now tell me more about my hair..."

"Park Sunghoon!" he fumes, fists returned to his sides. They're still arguing in loud whispers, but at the rate they're going they might just wake the whole dorm up soon enough. "That's not the point. The _point is,_ there are so many things about you that are unexplained. If you're really a _vampire..._ the whole school should be told the truth."

Sunghoon inhales deeply and lets his eyes flutter shut, but a hint of a smirk is still present on his blood-red lips. "Maybe if you'd give me the time of day, I'd happily sit down to explain each and every one of the things you're curious about, all in one go. But you're always so mean," he sighs, feigning hurt. "Always so mean and dry to me. Always in a rush to be somewhere else when I approach you... it's hard to get a word in with you, you know."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you," Sunghoon drawls, so matter-of-factly it leaves Sunoo stunned that the older boy thinks _he's_ unapproachable. Sure, he's been unfriendly and said some nasty things out of spite (and wished temporary death on the guy, but that's besides the point for now), but he's always thought that between the two of them, Sunghoon would be the one harder to track down. He's constantly leaving behind footprints of heartbreak and tears and there's always such commotion around him, Sunoo can rarely get more than two lines of insults in before he's being corralled away by his little entourage. "But now that I have your full attention, I need to know: carrot cake, or lemon meringue pie?"

" _Why—"_

The older boy unclasps his hands from the back and reveals to Sunoo what he's been hiding. It's a plastic container, and within it lay a slice of each of the desserts he keeps mentioning. "I told you. I really _do_ have a sweet tooth."

"You're going to eat both?"

"No, uh, Jay and I were up doing something and he told me to go get him a treat while I'm out getting mine."

Sunoo's stomach growls in protest when he opens his mouth to coldly decline the offer. He purses his lips, then decides, "I prefer carrot cake. But Jay..."

"Nah, he can starve." Sunghoon opens the container with one hand (Sunoo internally lets himself complain that on top of being... _conventionally attractive,_ he gets to have big hands, too) and offers the carrot cake to Sunoo. When he grabs at it, though, Sunghoon pulls back, his expression teasing. Even now, his teeth glint, reflecting light like a damn mirror and Sunoo catches himself trying to locate the boy's fangs.

"Pretty, it looks like the color of your familiar's fur." He holds up the cake to Sunoo's hair, rubbing his chin like he's pondering a philosophical matter of great significance, just to end up asking, "Do you like orange?"

"Really, Park Sunghoon, what's with all these stupid questions?"

"Humor me for a moment. After all, you _did_ just cross-examine me about being a vampire. I think you should indulge me for a few moments to make it up to me," he sniffs.

"I still haven't cleared you of suspicion, Park Sunghoon, so don't act so smug!" the younger boy warns, attempting to seize the cake once again, only to fail. _Seriously, what does he eat to grow so tall?_ He glares up at Sunghoon, and the latter only holds the contact easily like he has nothing to hide. "Fine. _Yes._ I like orange."

Sunghoon nods to himself like that's all he's been wanting to hear. He lowers it next to Sunoo's hair again, and before he even has the chance to take a bite out of it, he's taken aback with shock because the cake is... changing colors. Black is slowly seeping into it and spreading like a sponge soaking up paint. It doesn't take long for him to realize that Sunghoon's performing color transfer, where you bleed the color of one thing into another. By the time he's done, the whole cake's turned black, and he finally relents and gives it to Sunoo.

"Do you feel messed with?" Sunghoon cackles, holding the container under his armpit to rub his hands together in evil glee. "You like orange, so I turned it... _black._ Now it's no longer orange!" he announces, then bends over with laughter, humored and entertained by his own joke. Sunoo can't help but crack a smile as well. "Give it up, Sunoo, you're never going to win this challenge. I'm up to my sleeves with malicious tricks of ill intent and _you_ , are no match for me."

Sunoo pretends to yawn, holding a hand up to cover his mouth while he wills his smile to fade. "Go to sleep, Sunghoon. If I see you cavorting about in the middle of the night again, I'm going to report you. Seriously."

"Likewise," the fifth-year promises.

"I was out to make sure _you_ weren't up to no good!"

"Okay, Kim Sunoo, whatever you say. You better hurry back to your dorm. I've heard there are plenty of ghosts in this wing, that it used to serve as an infirmary for the wounded during the First Magi War... Who knows how many spirits remain here, lingering because they're out for blood, seeking revenge to even out their pain and suffering? Without your little fox familiar, I doubt you could make it far before you'd have a less than nice encounter that'll force you to retreat. Might as well get some sleep while you still can."

The younger boy's about to take his advice and turn back, when he realizes something—"Now that I think about it, you _never_ summon your familiar from the ether." All vampires are bound to their bat-self, and being able to transform into a different form comes with a cost: their ability to bind to another familiar in the ether would be muted. So for the whole of their long, bitter lives, they _literally_ only have themselves as company.

"Oh, well, you know the drill—I can't turn into a bat _and_ be present in the room at the same time... _God,_ Sunoo. I'm kidding. Again."

Sunoo looks down at the black carrot cake in his hand. What if it's actually injected full of poison? _Can_ he trust Park Sunghoon, who could very well _still_ be a vampire? "What's your familiar, then?"

"It's a demon, for god's sake. It's too big to summon into the school and all the professors have labeled my baby as a species ' _too dangerous'_ to be invited onto campus. So I only get to spend, like, two hours tops with dear ol' Mabel in the ether once a month. It's a tragic love story, I know."

"You found yourself a demon?" Sunoo gasps, then claps a hand over his mouth and bites down on a finger to stifle the scream making its way up his throat.

" _Sunoo._ You know that's impossible. You're obviously too damn sleep-deprived to think right. I could tell you I'm as straight a steel ruler right now and you'd believe me."

"...You're not?"

An exasperated sigh escapes Sunghoon's parted lips and the fifth-year places his hands on Sunoo's shoulders to steer him in the direction of his room. "That's it, Kim Sunoo. You need to _sleep." Sunghoon_ personally escorts the boy right to his room's door before bidding him goodnight, which proves he's so exhausted he's basically delirious at this point. If he were _truly_ awake, he would've never let Sunghoon boss him around like that.

But before he knows it, he's setting the paper-wrapped carrot cake on his desk carefully and throwing himself onto his bed. He's pulling the covers up over himself, and that's the last thing he remembers before sleep claims him readily.

**DAY 9**

" _Sunoo hyung."_

_"I'm skipping breakfast today, just go on without me..."_

_"No, that's not it—hyung, your_ — _"_

_"Jungwon,_ please, _my migraine's about to kill me and I have an exam for first period. I'll be fine without breakfast. I just need some_ sleep. _"_

_"Hyung, no, you don't get it—"_

_"Please, Jungwon-ah, I'm begging you I just need a few more minutes of sleep..._ "

He's late for his first class. So, to be blunt, he's late for his damn _exam._

For once, he's grateful for Park Sunghoon, because he manages to grab the black carrot cake and shove it into his mouth haphazardly on his way out just to sate the insatiable black hole in his stomach. It's just a tiny slice, but it crumbles perfectly in his mouth, and the icing, although warm, still leaves him _partly_ satisfied. Enough to keep him going through the first period.

Sunoo's racing down the hallway to the class where Transformation and Disguises is taking place today, and thankfully, it's not that far off from where he is right now. The exams don't begin right away, so there's technically still a window of _five minutes_ of opportunity where he can still be, well, not late. Since everyone's already in their respective classes, there are no obstacles to zip between this morning and his journey there is only hindered by his lack of stamina.

When he bursts through the doors, every head turns to look at him and their expressions go from curious to shock in a split second. There's a weird sense of tension in the air, thick like a fog that he can't wave off, but he treads through it anyway, heading to the only available seat in the middle row, which isn't all that bad considering how late he is. He bows to his wiry Transformation's professor, who's staring at him through the glasses perched precariously on the tip of his nose, his straggly gray-streaked hair framing his long, unamused face as per usual. He makes a grunt of acknowledgment but there's no way to tell if he's mad about Sunoo's tardiness, because for the past four years he's been here, he's only ever seen Professor Baek wear _one_ expression.

He sits down cautiously, then stares at the single object laying on the small, square mat. It's a rock. Dark, rough... unremarkable. This must be the test, because everyone else has a different cut of the rock on their desks, too.

Speaking of which—all his classmates still have their eyes fixed on him, mouths hanging open. When he spins around to check if Professor Baek's still staring at him, he's immediately faced with an even bigger predicament instead: his professor's standing right behind him, mouth hard and stern.

"Kim Sunoo, I appreciate you showing effort to master the art of Transformation, but I'd prefer if you don't practice on yourself from now on. Bleeding colors onto yourself unsolicited and without supervision isn't admirable. It's reckless and irresponsible. You might be lucky once, twice, but poison is a tricky thing. You never know where they lie," he lectures Sunoo, his reedy voice unusually austere today.

_Bleeding colors onto myself? What is he talking about?_

Sunoo merely nods and lowers his head so as to not anger his professor further, but he still doesn't get _why_ he's being chastised for reasons beyond showing up late. In fact, Professor Baek hasn't even mentioned a _word_ about that.

"Maybe he just wanted to match his fox!" someone from the back yells, which incites a flurry of sniggering and laughter from the whole class. Professor Baek silences them with a clap of his hands, telling them that the test will begin soon, but Sunoo can't stop thinking about it. Because suddenly, he's starting to connect the dots and Park Sunghoon appears in his mind dressed in moonlight, the stupid carrot cake in hand. He's saying something, and it takes a few playbacks of the memory for Sunoo to grasp the words. _Pretty, it looks like the color of your familiar's fur_.

He'd performed a color transfer...

Color _transfer._

But if that jerk had bled black into the cake, that would mean that—

His hair is orange right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI HERE WE ARE AGAIN!! this chapter is SO DAMN LONG but i promise that the next chapter will be even longer! MORE INSULTS BORDERING ON FLIRTING!! MORE SUNSUN RIVALRY!! MORE KISSING AND CUDDLING stay tuned for all of that ;]
> 
> thank you all for the kindest words! I received so much love on the last chapter that i really decided to give this fic my all. i know i also have to update the way to the galaxy, but I figured I should work on this one first since it's a christmas fic! hopefully I can finish it right on time to give all sunsun enthusiasts a christmas present <33 i'm seriously grateful for all the lovely comments yall left!!!!
> 
> my twitter is @ricecookerym!!! see u all next chapter


	3. The D-Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisses under mistletoes are all the magic you need sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! this is SUCH a huge chapter, i ended up not having any time to beta it at all so if you see any mistakes i might've made from sleep deprivation, please let me know in the comments! also, this became a series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
> 
> ENHA- in the Magick Universe! subscribe to the series as a whole so you won't miss them every festive season <3333333
> 
> please enjoy this, and take this as a christmas present from me! To all sunsun enthusiasts (who have been getting flamed on twt for no reason. So cheer up! and i love you all)

**DAY 9 (... big things are in the planning)**

"Sunoo-yah!"

He turns, and just like he'd expected, Sunghoon's leaning on the pillar next to his class's entrance, arms folded and smug smirk just as slappable as ever. Behind his figure, Sunoo can already make out the herd of admirers about to trample them, moving closer to accidentally ' _bump into'_ Sunghoon and call that good luck. There's a myth in their school—one Sunoo can put an end to, considering his track record—that if you meet eyes with Park Sunghoon in the morning and he so much as acknowledges you, you're set to have a good rest of the week. Now this is _false._ Because _every single time_ Sunghoon attempts to converse with him in the morning, his blood pressure shoots through the roof and the only thing he feels is rage.

Sunoo stares at Sunghoon's hair and he touches his own self-consciously.

"Why'd you get rid of the orange? I really liked that color on you," Sunghoon pouts, trailing after Sunoo like a sick puppy when the younger boy decides to take the higher road and ignore him. Mentally, he's cussing out his roommate— _Yang Jungwon your method doesn't work!_

"Woah, you even got it out the roots..." the fifth-year marvels.

"Professor Baek pulled me to the front of his class and did it for me," he explains. He wasn't planning on talking, but he doesn't feel good about taking credit for someone else's work. If there's _one_ good thing that came out this whole fiasco, it's that he got to witness Professor Baek work his magic, real-time. His hands are so incredibly steady and the whole process was over before he knew it. It was efficient, and the results didn't come out patchy at all. He has Genetics and Horticulture next, held in Greenhouse twenty-four which is quite a ways from the cluster of main buildings, so the time allocated for them to walk there is longer... and it doesn't explain why Sunghoon is still tailing him. "How is it that you never have classes whenever I see you?"

The older boy speeds up to plant himself firmly in Sunoo's direct line of vision. "Maybe I'm playing truant to see you."

"Good—keep it up and I'll finally see you expelled."

Sunghoon grabs at his heart like Sunoo just stabbed him. "Face of an angel, disposition of short-tempered demon's"

"You're such a nuance, Park."

"A handsome one?" he asks hopefully.

"No."

It's hilarious to watch Sunghoon deflate like a human balloon. Sunoo's the needle poking into his body, a job he'd gladly excel at. "To answer your question," Sunghoon starts to say.

"You don't have to."

"I _want to_."

"But I don't want to hear it..."

"You're so mean, Kim Sunoo!"

Sunoo brushes past Sunghoon, who's taken to pouting in the middle of the hallway obstructing the flow of students trying to get to their classes. It doesn't help that some of them are lingering around, slowing their pace so that they can be in close vicinity to the fifth-year as well. "Move out the way before someone knocks you over, Park." When Sunghoon doesn't heed his words, he backtracks, fuming, and pulls the older boy by the sleeve of his uniform to the side of the passage. "You're such a _pest,"_ he hisses. "If I'd known you'd become ten times as insufferable, I would have never started that stupid challenge."

"Well, then I wouldn't have had a reason to talk to you this much. I have self-study right now, by the way. I have plenty of free time to escort you to your next class."

"You're planning some kind of misfortune to befall me on the way there, aren't you?"

The fifth-year heaves a sigh, "Does _everything_ have to revolve around our bet? Cause I'm just—"

"Park, do you have your wand with you right now?"

"No, why?"

Sunoo swivels around on his heels to meet Sunghoon's eyes. Before the older boy can react, he holds out a hand and casts, " _Freeze, You're It!"_ All eyes shift onto them in the hallway, and some uncertain laughter breaks the silence. Basking in the pure glory and euphoria of claiming a public victory, Sunoo holds out his finger and finishes it off with his favorite ward, the first one every student has to learn in Sigils. The _sealing sigil._ It amplifies the effect of any spell cast beforehand, and now instead of two minutes, Sunghoon's going to be stuck there for _four._

It doesn't matter anyway—someone's bound to take pity on him and unfreeze him. A professor, perhaps. All Sunoo needed was a means to escape.

He lets himself dissolve into childlike glee. _God,_ who knows how long he's been wanting to pull something like this off. For once, Sunghoon has nothing to say, no reason to open his pretty mouth to spout some enraging nonsense. Oh wait—he simply can't. Sunoo whips out his wand and taps it against Sunghoon's cheek twice. "I think I win this one, Park."

**DAY 10**

Sunoo's not sure which day they're on. Who's keeping track when the whole term has been hectic and plagued with chaos? Someone managed to break into a room that people didn't even know existed in the library and all the students were rounded up in the Hall to be lectured today. Security measures are to be tightened and the students are advised to travel everywhere in pairs, regardless of what time of the day it is. All the while, the faculty skillfully—and _pointedly—_ ignore the burning questions regarding what's been discovered in the well-concealed secret the school has been keeping guard for years. Word is starting to spread that it's just a prank gone awry, but it makes Sunoo shudder.

You never know what these rich, powerful, and influential people are hiding. He's benefitting from the scholarship they've offered, sure, but it doesn't change the fact that this place gives him the creeps. Most of these students are heirs and heiresses to heaps of fortune, wealth beyond the limits of his imagination. A vast majority of them descend from legacies and names that evoke gasps of reverence. Seeing them all together, pooled into one spot? It's disconcerting to say the least.

His very own roommate, too, belongs to one of the elite. In the world of Magick, he's basically _royalty._ Quite literally. The fifty-seventh Imperial Empress of House Yang centuries ago... that's the same house Jungwon comes from. You would've never guessed, considering how Jungwon is attempting to pull his foot up to his nose to sniff at it now.

"Are you going to go out tonight?" his roommate clears his throat and sits up, blinking at Sunoo. "I know you went to the library yesterday."

"I did, but I didn't even get there before I had an unfortunate run-in," Sunoo mumbles into his hands. They're both in their sleepwear, getting ready for bed. But there's a kind of an ominous ambiance today that leaves him uneasy, feeling shaken. 

"Ah, with Sunghoon, is that right?"

Now _this_ is cause to evoke his inner sleuth. "I never told you."

Jungwon lets go of his foot. Or rather, it slips out his hands from shock. "What?"

"I never told you," Sunoo repeats slowly, carefully watching every twitch and tick in the younger boy's expression, "that it was Sunghoon I ran into last night."

His roommate breaks the eye contact first and heads to his desk to fiddle with the lamp he'd brought from home. "I don't know what you're talking about... you _did_ tell me. This morning, remember? Hah, you were so sleepy that it must've slipped your mind."

"No, but I'm certain—"

"We have Alchemy tomorrow with the fifth-years," Jungwon says, letting his voice trail off so he can pretend to stifle his yawn. The boy's talented in a plethora of things, but acting is not one of them. "Shall we sleep? You need to rest so you can properly defeat your mortal enemy tomorrow. What did he give you for the potion, by the way? Jay gave me a ribbon."

"A dandelion," he answers, although he still feels unwilling to let go of the fact that Jungwon just _knew—_

" _Pft._ I can tell why you hate him. That's such a bad gift."

"Hey, so's a ribbon!" Sunoo counters defensively. Then he catches himself. Did he just... _defend Park Sunghoon? Over Jay?_ Something must be terribly wrong with him. Maybe the older boy had sneakily put a spell on him. He rubs his chest, right at the spot where his heart steadily beats on, trying to check if his hatred for Sunghoon is still there, safe and sound, and tucked away with his book of insults.

"He has a reason for it! He said his family has a ranch somewhere in New Zealand and he visits it once a year. They tied a red ribbon around his favorite sheep so he can recognize it whenever he's back..."

Sunoo quirks an eyebrow in question. "If he likes it that much, would he need a ribbon to figure out which one it is?"

"Is it his fault all sheep look the same?"

"Oh my god, that is _so_ discriminatory."

"Go to sleep!" Jungwon sniffs, tucking himself into bed beneath bundles of blankets. It's his turn to turn off the lights tonight, so he mutters a spell under his breath and they're already enveloped in darkness. Sunoo doesn't mind it. But he's also never going to get used to it—whenever it's _his_ turn, he has to walk there, turn it off manually, then stumble back into his bed as blind as a bat.

There are just always going to be some things that he can't get used to even after all these years...

**DAY 11**

Like Park Sunghoon smiling and waving at him, beckoning him to come closer, for instance.

Usually, Sunoo wouldn't pay him any heed but once again, it's Alchemy and it's not like he can choose to evade and disregard Sunghoon's presence altogether. It's probably better than he rushes to his station and get this over with as quickly as possible. Sunghoon's already stirring the pot checking the consistency of the potion when Sunoo's close enough to mutter a soft, "good morning". They missed each other the whole day yesterday and Sunoo's growing nervous thinking how the older boy might retaliate after being publicly humiliated.

From the intel Jungwon's managed to gather, everyone in the school has been made aware of their challenge by now. Some of them are even getting _extremely_ invested in watching shit hit the fan, flocking to sides and making bets. The professors _definitely_ are in the know as well, but no one's making a move to stop them, so Sunoo's taking that as a sign to keep going.

He thinks Professor Cho and Professor Baek might be on his side.

Sunoo's not the type to enjoy having the glare of the spotlight blinding his sight, but as long as he's getting a break from being ridiculed for being a _halfer_ , he's okay with the new attention if it's what he has to bear.

"'Morning," Sunghoon responds. He's focused again, sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he jots down notes in his illegible scrawl. 

"Why, is something wrong with it?"

"No, it's going well."

"Then why're you so quiet?" He sidles up next to the taller boy and eyes him suspiciously, trying to sniff out anything questionable about his meek demeanor today. He keeps expecting something to blow up in his face but strangely enough, nothing does... he's starting to think this is Sunghoon's way of stringing him along and keeping him on his toes. To his surprise, Sunghoon barely spares him a glance.

Their professor arrives without much spectacle and announces that he's going to start making his rounds to make sure that nothing's amiss. Behind them, Sunoo hears Jungwon and Jay giggling in between hushed whispers again, but the jealousy that singes like a bad burn on his heart doesn't hurt as much this time. Rather, it's like an itch that won't go away.

He rounds Sunghoon's figure and asks for the older boy to pass him the paddle and again, Sunghoon does so without objection.

"Is something wrong?" he finally asks aloud. Along with his outburst, his hand stops moving and Sunghoon _tsks_ impatiently, snatching the paddle back into his hands. The fifth-year's face is red and his jaw is clenched. This all makes for a very puzzling picture: shouldn't Sunoo be the one getting frustrated and worked up here? _Sunghoon's_ the one who wouldn't leave his side before this... the fact that he's the one gritting his teeth like Sunoo's trying his patience now is laughable.

"This... doesn't smell like anything to you?" Sunghoon responds with another confounding question of his own, chewing his bottom lip relentlessly as he waits for Sunoo's answer. The latter thinks one wouldn't come along so quickly—for one, he's not sure if Sunghoon lent a voice to his curiosity with an answer he wanted to hear in mind already.

This really doesn't seem like a prank, so what could it be?

"Is it supposed to smell like something?" he tries, which must be the wrong answer, because Sunghoon hangs his head in silence and tugs the paddle from the pull of the viscous potion with a loud _plop._ Sunoo peers into the cauldron to see what Sunghoon's eyes are so fixated by. The iridescent liquid is actually turning a deep shade of violet, which doesn't actually mean anything. He's just surprised it'd actually take on a shade of purple when none of the ingredients were even close to that color originally.

All love potions turn out differently; and unfortunately, there isn't much they can do to influence or steer the qualities and behavior of the damned thing a certain way. A lot of aspects come into play when determining the nature of a love potion, and one of them is the maker's aura or feelings when they're working on it. The things the maker has taken an interest in will also affect the outcome slightly, especially if they're on the other end of an emotional bond. But of course, it's way more complex than that—anything that's got to do with someone's emotions is bound to be a hassle to understand, so what Sunoo's thinking is... as long as they get a good grade, all this torture would've been worth it. Even if he doesn't particularly grasp the workings of its mechanism.

Sunghoon drags a nearby stool to him with the head of his foot and sits down sullenly. "Jay's favorite color is purple. This exact shade, actually..."

His senior said it soft enough that there's no way anyone would've overheard that, but _still._ A violent crimson shade suffuses across his cheeks and Sunoo has to turn away, willing the redness to _leave._

He should've seen this coming. _Of course_ the love potion would be able to sniff out his greatest weakness. This stupid thing was created with his emotions being the very essence of its existence after all. Sunoo should be worried if it didn't reflect his infantile crush on Jay Park. He just thought...

He just didn't expect his feelings revolving Jay would be strong enough to alter and shape _this_ much of the potion's physical attributes. _And_ he's just been caught red-handed by Park Sunghoon, _and_ it's just his damn rotten luck that this guy happens to be Jay's roommate. If he were to hold this over Sunoo's head and threaten to tell his best friend—the younger boy would rather forfeit this challenge and do Sunghoon's evil biddings for the rest of his time here at the academy than have Jay find out about this. His pride, his ego would not survive this fatal blow. Sunoo sneaks a glance to the station where Jungwon and Jay are making heart eyes at each other over their steaming cauldron, the smoke rising to curl around them in a makeshift heart shape. _Besides_ , he reasons with himself, _what would Jungwon think of you? It's pathetic._

"A lot of people like purple, Park. It's a pretty color," he attempts to dismiss the notion by sounding as persuasive and believable as he can. Sunoo has always prided himself as someone honest, but an adverse side effect that comes with being blunt is that you're bound to be a bad liar, too.

"Is purple _your_ favorite color?"

Sunoo briefly— _very briefly_ —entertains the idea of lying and saying yes to appease Sunghoon, but drops it almost right away. He let his shoulders slump forward and sighs, "No."

"Right, we really have nothing in common," Sunghoon echoes his sigh, then Magicks an identical stool over for Sunoo to sit on. Soon enough, they get to work on peeling off the bark of samples of a Sycamore Tree. Like almost every other ingredient they've perused and added, this, too has a lot to do with Sunoo himself. As a child, he has many fond memories of climbing up the ancient Sycamore Tree in his backyard and viewing the world from the topmost branch at sunset. It's like you can see the seams in the sky where the color transitions from grey and blue to explosions of orange and pink; it's like you can see everything up there—it's like... witnessing the moon reunite with its sun. Moments like those were Sunoo's first taste of Magick before he discovered the well that lay dormant within himself.

By the end of their first Alchemy session together, Sunghoon had compiled a sizable list of all the things that Sunoo has a clear attachment towards. He's surprised that the older boy even went out of his way to acquire some of the things on that extensive list. Sycamore bark was one of them.

"Is purple your favorite, too?" Sunoo asks lightly, not wanting to go straight into the hard-hitting questions like ' _What's got you feeling so emo today?'_

"Yeah," Sunghoon exhales, using the back of his hand to push his hair out his eyes. "I hated Jay when we first met. I thought he was so standoffish and such a know-it-all—"

_You sound like you're describing yourself, actually_ , Sunoo thinks, but refrains from making any cutting remarks lest Sunghoon crawls back into his dank shell to sulk for reasons unknown again.

"—and the fights between us escalated so much that we were banging on the headmaster's door by the end of the second week, demanding that the _Occult_ reassign us new roommates. I was surprised we even made it that far considering how much we hated each other at that time," Sunghoon laughs to himself, no doubt recalling many stupid instances initially frustrating that have turned into fond memories over the years. It's contagious—Sunoo finds himself smiling as well, and he tucks his chin into his chest to hide it from the older boy. "But one day, I used a spell to knock over a glass of water onto his lap while no one was watching. Everyone laughed and Jay was _furious._ He knew it was me because it wasn't that hard to figure out. I was laughing the loudest like a hyena in the class and everyone was only following me...

"I regretted it all when Professor Yue had me follow Jay to the toilet to check up on him." Sunghoon quirks his head and stops peeling for a moment, like he's deciding if he should tell Sunoo the rest of the story. Whatever happened next must be embarrassing because Sunghoon's already flushing abashedly before saying a single word. "I... used to wet my pants a lot."

Sunoo presses his mouth into his fist, trying to disguise his laugh as a coughing fit.

"Yeah, laugh all you want," the older boy grumbles, trying to put up a nonchalant front but Sunoo can see right through it. It seems like Sunghoon isn't a very good liar, either, so that makes two of them, he supposes. " _Anyway_ , the point is that I always had a spare pair of _undies—new and still packaged—_ with me. Just in case. But I'll have you know I never ever put them to use in all my five years here. I followed him to the washroom and gave it to him and he thanked me. I don't really remember how the conversation went, but I think he asked me if I liked purple, too, because that's his favorite color. We just bonded over having a wide collection of purple undies I guess. I don't think we've had a serious fight since."

"Who'd have known you could build your friendship on the foundation of purple underwear," Sunoo muses.

"Don't be jealous, Kim Sunoo. _That's_ how you know if your friendship's going to last a lifetime."

Someone clears their throat from the other side of their station and they both shot up their seats to face their assessment with Professor Kim, who has already taken it upon himself to ladle some of their potion-in-progress into a small crystalline vial. It's being turned this way and that now in his hand, and both of them are actively gulping down pockets of air non-stop to quell their anxiousness. The whole class has settled down, no doubt tuning in to pick up on their captious professor's review on what they have so far. Sunghoon bumps into his shoulder and Sunoo's already preparing a lethal dose of his signature glare, when he notices that the boy's prompting him to look down. When Sunoo does, he sees that Sunghoon's fingers are crossed, but not just his index and middle ones—his ring finger and his pinky are intertwined over each other as well, and the sight of it makes him snort out in laughter.

Belatedly, he remembers the situation they're in and swallows the rest of his ugly chortle down, hoping they're safe from Professor Kim's lectures today. While the man's attention is momentarily captured by the sample in his vial, though, Sunoo takes the opportunity to shove his shoulder into Sunghoon's in response. 

With a sigh, Professor Kim sets the vial down on the countertop and glances at them like they've just exhausted the last of his patience. Though, to be fair, he looks like that all the time. He and Professor Baek should have, quite literally, a _face-_ off to decide who has a better poker face.

"Great work here," he compliments them. "The best I've seen so far,"—the whole class breaks into a series of teasing _oohs_ and the man has the pinch the bridge of his nose and exhale heavily to calm himself before continuing—"it looks like it's on the way to becoming _very_ potent, so be careful not to inhale its fumes. Sunoo, I'd suggest you wear a mask or work behind the effect of a barricading Sigil in case the potion begins to take effect on you."

"But Professor," Sunghoon calls, then casts an unreadable glance in Sunoo's direction, "Sunoo says that there isn't a smell that he can detect coming from it. It's beginning to change colors, sure, but for a potion this strong, shouldn't it be inducing some kind of... symptom by now?"

"I confess, with both my top students working on the same team, I'd have thought either one of you would figure out why by now." A poorly-masked smirk breaks the icy illusion of Professor Kim's expression as he starts to retreat, moving on to the next station chosen at random. "Perhaps you could make it more effective if you would both stop flirting with each other and pay more attention to your potion instead."

There isn't enough time for Sunoo to register the words and deny the accusation before the rest of the class has decidedly taken the story and ran with it.

_What. Is this. Atmosphere..._ Sunoo's heart is thumping a thousand miles a second and he prays to dear god that this will all be over soon. Almost robotically, he takes large strides over to the chopping board and begins hacking away at the pieces of the Sycamore bark aggressively, hoping that the sound will overpower the maniacal racing of his heart.

"Hold... on," Sunghoon calls, albeit rather uncertainly. "Barricading Sigil."

"Oh, right," Sunoo grits with trained patience, then holds out a hand to draw the symbol shakily. He fails the first try, but before he can hear Sunghoon offering to put it up for him, he attempts it again and succeeds. As ironic as it is considering his situation, he lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding—like the main character of some rotten, _terribly cliched_ romance fiction—and finds strange relief in seeing the blue glow emanating from the cylindrical tube he's safely contained within.

A barricading Sigil essentially works like a shield, but instead of protecting the Magick user against physical attacks, it acts as blinders to cancel out intangible effects of spells, potions, etcetera.

Sunoo can only hope with all four of his crossed fingers that the Sigil also works on making him immune to the indecipherable sighs and heavy glances Sunghoon keeps sending his way.

"Want to grab lunch together?"

Sunghoon's regained _a fraction_ of his usual unshakable 'rich and pompous asshole' attitude by the end of their second lesson together, and Sunoo doesn't know why, but he feels inclined to say yes if it means the fifth-year will stop sighing like he's pining for his unrequited love and dampening his spirits by extension. _Besides_ , he has an inkling that Sunghoon won't leave his side even if he declines, knowing the boy's persistent attitude.

Sunoo begins to reach for his books and stationery to tidy up the station they've used when the older boy solves this slight inconvenience with a wave of his hand.

He turns his stare to Sunghoon, who's pressed two fingers to his forehead like he's battling a migraine. He's backlit by the sunlight from where he leans, and an otherwordly kind of glow seems to frame his silhouette and hug him in a tight embrace as though he's one of the angels himself. Sunoo pales and tries to disguise his jealousy—is it normal that people look _this_ attractive when they're nursing a headache? It's unfair that Sunghoon seems to carry around his own lighting fixtures to set himself up perfectly in every frame of his life... and people like Sunoo are just expected to bask in the leftovers he has to spare.

"Don't you have your friends you eat with, though?" he asks as casually as he can, biting back snarky remarks about Sunghoon's lean.

"Well, I was actually asking if you'd like to dine with _us_ ," Sunghoon says, gesturing to draw a circle in the air like it's supposed to make sense, "as a group. Your roommate seems to be getting along well with Jay anyway." At the mention of Jay, Sunghoon looks at the younger boy meaningfully, like he's making some sort of big sacrifice Sunoo should be grateful to him for. All he does is look away in response.

"Jungwon has his own 'lunch-time' friends, actually." Sunoo's more of a... _breakfast presence._ It isn't that his roommate doesn't like to include him in his plans—it's just that Sunoo has declined him far too many times with ridiculous reasons that Jungwon got the message eventually, loud and clear.

The professors and Jungwon have been more than considerate and hospitable since he came here, but the same couldn't be said for the others here. During his first year here, bright-eyed Sunoo actually arrived on campus bearing hope and belief that people would be charitable and nice to him, care for him to make sure he'd fit in alright despite being... _different._ That stupid, idealistic hope was trumped soon enough by the endless myriad of petty pranks and dirty glares that followed him everywhere, even to the darkest corners of every room that he could find. They stared at him like he's a dirty stain on the carpet they couldn't rid themselves of, and it _hurt._ Over the years, they soon grew tired of him, and since their academy had been working opening their doors to a wider range of students including people like him, things became better.

The discrimination is less obvious now because severe consequences are issued out to those who dared bully and belittle the ostracized, but still—it's not like Sunoo can just wake up and forget any of that ever happened. Which is why he prefers to keep to himself and periodically fraternize with Jungwon's circle. The rest of them? Just talking to them, being told by professors to help them out on a question... it makes him throw up in his mouth.

Sunghoon's a different case. No, he's just quite plainly a nutcase.

Sunoo had initially thought Sunghoon's tendency to tag after him and strike up stupid conversations about his own accomplishments was his own way of taking a swipe at Sunoo, but the latter realizes now that the older boy, too, rarely talked to anyone outside his regular group of friends. Sunoo's train of thoughts strays to their last conversation in Alchemy—" _We've known each other for four years, Sunoo. We're not strangers."_

Nervously, Sunoo steals a furtive peek at Sunghoon, who's looking away, biting down on yet _another_ apple. _Could it be that this crazy bastard really thought of me as his friend all these years?_ He shudders to even _consider_ the possibility of that.

"So you don't usually eat lunch?" Sunghoon suddenly asks him.

The younger boy shrugs, hugging his books to his chest. The room is slowly emptying and the only people who remain at their stations are too busy fretting over saving their work to bother eavesdropping on them. Sunghoon's a renowned figure at school who's carved himself a reputation of being mysterious and reclusive around people he doesn't know, though Sunoo has yet to see that side of the fifth-year. And Sunoo, well, there are only so many _halfers_ at school so everyone knows his face, his face, and everything he's done before. The fact that the both of them are the best students in their respective years doesn't help in dispelling the rumors they've become entangled in.

"I... eat. Mostly just snacks. I don't like being in the Mess."

"Jungwon and his friends have actually eaten with us a few times before. Eat with us today," the older boy says, smiling against the shiny red coat of the apple he's eating.

"So," a voice sounds behind them, "you guys ready to go?"

Jay, Jungwon and Jake "all-smiles" Shim are waiting for the two of them patiently, and with Sunghoon looking at him like that, there's no way Sunoo can dig his way out of this situation. He nods meekly and follows the boisterous group at the very back, but somehow on the way there, Sunghoon falls into step with him wordlessly and they carry on like that, side by side, for the remainder of the path they took. No one questions it.

Just like how Sunoo doesn't question it when Sunghoon presses his palm to Sunoo's barricading Sigil and disarms it easily.

" _Woah,"_ Jake is exclaiming for the nth time at their table when they've all settled down. "I can't believe I'm eating with you..." He rests his elbows on the table after pushing his plate aside, fitting his face into the cup of his hands excitedly. "Kim Sunoo! In the flesh— _in front of me!_ I've heard so many things about you, I can't believe this is happening—"

Yeah, when Sunoo said he wanted to become a force to be reckoned with, a legendary Magi not to be forgotten, this wasn't really was was on his mind.

To his right sits Sunghoon, who's wedged between both him and a very likable sixth-year named Lee Heeseung who's apparently grown accustomed and used to the group's antics because he carries on with his meal like a fawning Jake simply doesn't exist in his world. In front of the three of them are Jake (who jostled his way violently to grab the seat directly in front of Sunoo), Jay and Jungwon (who are deemed to be inseparable now) and lastly, Niki (Jungwon's friend who prefers eating in peace to participating in their bickering).

"Stop it," Sunghoon warns, cutting into his chicken with a frown. "You're making Sunoo feel uncomfortable."

"How would I—" Jake leans forward in his seat, "Sunoo, am I making you uncomfortable?"

Sunoo swirls his spoon in the bowl of soup he got for himself so he has somewhere else to look in the meantime. "A little," he admits.

" _Hah!"_ Sunghoon smirks, shoveling pieces of chicken into his mouth in a manner very much unlike the usual collected and cool version of himself. He seems to really unwind and be at ease when he's with his friends... it's reassuring. It makes Sunoo feel like he can let go, too.

Jake, being the overgrown puppy that he is, sits back and wills his jutting bottom lip to stop trembling. "I—I'm sorry, Sunoo. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything... It's just that I'm simply a big fan of yours. Professor Cho talks a lot about you in Sigils and has shown us some of your work. It's _incredible_ , and I guess I never thought I'd get to talk with you or anything," he sniffs.

At the other end of the table, Niki and Heeseung cough and exchange amused glances. Jay and Jungwon, too engrossed in their own separate exchange, pay them no heed.

"You know, Sunghoon talks a lot about you, too. You two have Sigils together, don't you?"

_Yeah, cause he failed his exams last_ _year_ , Sunoo actually wants to gloat, but it doesn't seem like right now is the best place to do so. Sunghoon elbows him in the waist and Sunoo pays him back, twice as hard. "He does?" he asks, hoping he'll fish some embarrassing anecdote out of Jake for future use. And Jake, god bless him, actually bites the bait.

"Yeah! Sunghoon has more of your designs memorized than _I_ do."

_After all this talk of me being obsessed with you when it's the other way round... you are_ despicable, _Park Sunghoon!_ He sends all of that in a glare to the fifth-year beside him. He didn't think the older boy would understand, but he does and actually sends a reply with the deliberate movement of his eyes and orchestrated wriggle of his brows.

_All to laugh at you! Don't go about making up weird scenarios about it, Sunoo. It isn't good to live inside your own imagination. What are those drawings anyway? They look like something crudely drawn by a four-year-old._

Sunoo inhales sharply and replies instantly without opening his mouth: _You're one to speak! Do you think you're special because you've seen my designs? I've been asked to give my opinion on_ your _designs before! Sigil for Infatuation, Sigil for Poetry Enchantment... it's no wonder you failed last year—it's all so shallow and childish!_

The other five pairs of eyes dart between the two of them like they're watching an intense game of soccer.

Jay slams the table and they break out of it begrudgingly. "If I'd known neither of you would be able to keep it civil—"

"He started it first," they both accused, pointing at each other with resentment plastered across their faces.

Niki sighs and finishes off the last of the food on his plate. He balances his dishes perfectly on a single hand and rises from the table slowly. "Really, I'm not sure what to say—I guess I just wasn't expecting the rumored two best Magi in the school to behave like people my age," he says matter-of-factly and leaves to dispose of his plates. To hear that coming from a second-year—Sunoo isn't sure what to think.

"Speaking of which," Heeseung's finally speaking to contribute to the conversation, "your bet with each other is still ongoing, right?"

As if awakened upon being called to, the mild pricking sensation alights on the palm that'd met with Sunghoon when they sealed the challenge with _Lover's Truce._ Sunoo rubs at it absent-mindedly with his thumb.

"Yeah, but it isn't like a bet or anything," he attempts to explain.

"Sure it is,'' Sunghoon rebuts, "isn't that the whole point of a duel?"

" _Is_ it a duel?" Jay asks, looking concerned for their safety.

Sunghoon rolls his eyes but he's back to torturing his chicken with a fork, so Sunoo expands on it instead, "It's like a duel without boundaries. It isn't just limited to the battleground, but at the same time, the purpose of it isn't to battle each other to death, or to a draw, or a clear depletion of someone's defense mechanism. We're just trying to see who would relent and give up first."

"What did you both ask for? There must be something on the line, right?" Jake's initial excitement from meeting Sunoo face-to-face has now dissolved into curiosity. If he really were a dog, his tail would be pointed straight up right now. Jake's like an open book—every emotion he experiences is written all over his face, and right now, he seems to be trying to connect dots that simply aren't there. The whole population of this damn school seems to think there's something going on between Sunoo and Sunghoon, and as much as the former _detests_ the thought of being linked to the fifth-year, romantically or not, denying it now would just make them appear even more suspicious.

"I said I wanted to be his partner in every project we could ever have together, including the advanced placement classes he gets to take," Sunghoon swallows.

Jake's eyes shifted over to meet Sunoo's and the intensity of it makes him avert his gaze, even though he's really done nothing to be ashamed of. "I said I wanted him to stop bothering me and act like he doesn't know me at all if I win."

"Seems a little bit extreme," says Niki, who seems to have been silently watching the whole sequence unfold from behind them after returning. "But I think that even if you win, you could never bring yourself to enact it."

And Sunoo blushes, because it's true.

It seems like his life and Sunghoon's have become far too intertwined for them to ever act like strangers when all of this is over and done with. Sunghoon casts him a sidelong glance as he leans into the table, and it doesn't peeve him as much as it used to—no, it doesn't irk him at all; Sunghoon brushes his hair back from his forehead and Sunoo doesn't think about dumping a bucket of ice or scalding hot water on him anymore; Sunghoon teases him, and instead of convulsing and igniting into flames, Sunoo responds with a snide, harmless remark of his own.

Jake turns around and sneezes. A pocket of pink and green pixie dust blows up in his face and the boy groans comically in his hands and the whole group laughs.

Sunoo's dumbfounded, because he's never felt the need to belong to a group of friends before. Yet with the six of them here (yes, that pest Park Sunghoon included), Sunoo kinda feels all warm and gooey within. And—why not admit it too—a _tiny, minute_ bit of happiness is blooming inside.

_Ah, shit._

_Just what have I gotten myself into?_

**DAY** **15**

The third joint Alchemy class was over before they could get to the fun part, but the thing is... as impressed as Professor Kim is with their progress thus far, no symptoms have begun showing up just yet. Sunoo even got rid of the barricade Sigil for a moment to see if anything would happen but he regretted it as soon as the blue barrier collapsed.

"Do you _have_ to wear this much cologne?" he asks Sunghoon, who only glances at him questioningly before going back to his writing. He's rather scarily quiet when he's focused and not playing a fool.

He regrets it till _now,_ when they're getting ready for bed yet again and the smell of Sunghoon's cologne still clings to him like a relentless scent of a rose latching to its bud. It's neither putrid nor foul, but all day it's felt like Sunghoon's been on his back nuzzling his smell into every crevice and fold of his clothes. It's frustrating enough that it feels like a presence he can't shake or wash off—it's even more aggravating when he's reminded that he _can't_ take this out on Sunghoon because it's not like the latter is really being a hindrance as per usual.

Strangely enough, rashes have also begun appearing all over his skin since Alchemy ended. He wonders if he's having an allergic reaction to some other team's ingredient. He should've dropped by the nurse's office when he could—now that dusk has given way to dark night, it scares Sunoo to even consider making his way there now.

"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?" Jungwon asks from under the covers. Sunoo knows that the boy's sweet enough to get out of bed to walk him all the way to the nurse's, but at the same time he really doesn't want to inconvenience his roommate any more than he already has.

He tentatively tests the temperature of his forehead with the back of his hand. _What the hell... I'm burning up._ And to make matters worse, he's _still_ being plagued by Sunghoon's cologne. It smells _incredibly_ expensive; the kind of thing he would never be able to afford even if he worked part-time jobs his whole life while juggling with a full-time job. It's like bergamot, crackling firewood and... _amber?_ Sunoo breaks out of his trance and buries his head into his pillow and tries to rub his face all over, hoping that he'll start smelling like himself again.

"Oh my god, this is the most annoying this ever," he moans. "Just cause that bastard can afford expensive cologne doesn't mean he should drench himself in a _bath_ of it."

"Are you... okay?" Jungwon asks, looking _really_ concerned this time. "I think you should really go see if the nurses can administer anything for your symptoms. Are you sure Sunghoon hyung didn't just use Mischief Magick on you again? If that's the case I think we should really visit the infirmary before it gets even later."

"I'll kill him if he did," Sunoo vows, "and besides, I don't think he's the type to pull the same prank. Gah you know what, I'll just go there now."

"Alright," his roommate says, kicking off his covers to get up as well.

"Jungwon-ah, I can get there myself. Really," he says earnestly. Sunoo likes to claim that being around people distracts him and that there's nothing he dislikes more than anything that'd derail him from achieving what he's set his mind to, but he can't deny that he's grown used to being around Jungwon. And this rivalry between him and Sunghoon has definitely cost Jungwon some sleep from the countless nights he had to stay up to listen to Sunoo complaining incessantly. While he _is_ spooked by the rumors circulating about a certain forbidden book gone missing from the library, he's sure as long as he keeps his guard up, he'll be fine.

It isn't the haunting hours yet after all. He hurries out of bed and wraps the same scarf around his neck. "Do you want me to turn off the lights?"

"Yeah, but you should leave your table lamp on. So it isn't too dark when you come back." Jungwon's still sitting up, watching Sunoo from his bed. "Are you sure you don't want me coming along?"

" _Yes,_ Jungwon-ah. Don't worry about me." That's the last thing he says before closing the door and racing down the hallway.

They should _really_ consider keeping the lights on even at night. He supposes the school does it to discourage students from sneaking out to hold seances in the middle of nowhere. But _still._ This place feels like a chilly graveyard at night—it's almost like he's playing minesweeper with unmarked tombs instead of landmines. To keep the pantry stocked with late-night snacks but not hand control of the lights over to the students... just what the hell is the school thinking?

He can feel his body heating up despite the wintry touch to the night. Winter was really coming on hard this year, and soon his parents would be celebrating the Winter Solstice and Christmas together. Seeing as the Magi don't have either one of the holidays in their calendar, he's going to be stuck here till their break in mid-January.

Sunoo cards his fingers through his damp hair and brushes them back. He's going insane—he _needs_ to have something to do with his hands or he's going to lose it. This is all Sunghoon's fault. Sunghoon, who smells like what Sunoo would expect a secret clearing in the forest would smell like when there's a bonfire going on. _Sunghoon, Sunghoon, Sunghoon._

Just like their previous encounter, Sunoo doesn't make it far before his course of action is interrupted by the invasion of another scent, this one sharp and stinging, so overpowering that if he opens his mouth, even for a _fraction_ of a second, he's certain he would be able to taste it. _Copper._

_Blood._

He whips around, and there Park Sunghoon stands, hair wet and eyes bloodshot and his hand covering his mouth. When it drops to his side, Sunoo's eyes widen at the sight of blood, dried and caked all over his face, running down the front of his soaked shirt. There's no doubt it _is_ blood—if it isn't the distinct smell that confirms Sunoo's suspicions, it's the fact that when Sunghoon opened his mouth, his teeth were stained red.

Sunoo thought he was frozen in place from shock, but when his legs began to work, he doesn't run in the direction of the main wing. No, his irredeemably _stupid_ self seems to think it would be a better idea to run _towards_ Sunghoon instead. _What the hell am I doing? I'm going to get myself killed!_ But internal monologue doesn't do the trick, because within seconds, he's already by Sunghon's side, latching on like there's nothing else in the world he'd rather do. But as soon a soon as Sunoo reaches out to touch Sunghoon, his fingerpads become sticky with all the blood that's covering Sunghoon, not that it's stopping him from firmly gripping Sunghoon's wrists like it would _do anything to help his case._ He's about to get _murdered_.

He can't believe he was actually right about Sunghoon being a vampire. A _fucking vampire—_ he's _touching_ a vampire.

"Sunoo?" Sunghoon's voice comes clear and pierces right through the feverish haze that clouds Sunoo's judgment. It's starting to break, his fever abating like a storm packing up its backs to ravage some other poor land. "Sunoo, are you... okay?"

It's about right that Sunghoon would be confused—Sunoo is basically pressing to the taller boy's side and it's taking him every bit of his restraint to keep himself from purring and nuzzling into Sunghoon's bicep.

He gathers every last bit of his strength and commands his limbs to obey. One by one, his fingers pop up and release Sunghoon ( _the vampire)_ from their death grip so he can take a step back and try to regain some of his dignity.

"What are you doing out here this late?" Sunghoon tilts his head in question, appearing to be genuinely distressed and worried like he isn't about to sink his fangs into Sunoo's neck and decimate his body after. Just then, he yawns and Sunoo cranes his neck for a better look at his fangs—they aren't there. Perhaps aristocrat vampires have an ability to retract them whenever they're not in use? "It's dangerous to be wandering about at night."

"You're soaked in blood," he observes like it isn't the most obvious thing.

"Yeah, I know," Sunghoon mutters as he schools his features into a neutral expression. "I was just about to go wash it all off."

"Aren't you going to explain why?" Sunoo asks.

"Could you please accuse me of being a vampire again so I can say yes and this will all be over?" Sunghoon's nonchalance shatters as easily as a mirror does when it's thrown to the ground, and he's begging Sunoo like what he's hiding is even more shameful than being a vampire convent's eyes and ears here. A ruse? Or the truth? Either way, something's compelling Sunoo to reach for Sunghoon's wrist so he does. The fifth-year looks down and frowns—"Is something wrong? Are you okay?" That must be the tenth time someone's asked him that today.

And he can no longer say yes, because he _knows_ something's wrong. For one, Sunghoon's presence is actually soothing the rashes on his skin and his breathing has slowed to its regular pace.

"How can you ask me if I'm okay when you've clearly put some kind of spell on me?" Sunoo alleges, placing both hands on Sunghoon's chest to push him away. The strength to complete the latter part of his plan doesn't come, so the heels of his palms just stay there awkwardly. _God, what the hell is wrong with me?_

"What are you talking about?"

" _This!"_ Sunoo cries out, exasperated that no one's seeing the problem here. "Everywhere I go, I keep smelling your damn cologne. I smell it now, even over the stench of blood. _God,_ I hate this so much—where did all this blood come from anyway... did you just come here from killing someone?"

"Sunoo, uh, have you been getting rashes? And a fever, perhaps?"

"I knew you did this you _bastard—"_

Before his fingers can fully close around Sunghoon's neck, he hears the next sentence: "And your heart races whenever you think of me doesn't it? W-wait! Don't kill me first, think about this rationally... you're falling in love with me."

He wasn't sure before, but now he is. He's sure that there's going to be a murder occurring tonight, and he's going to be the one reporting it.

"I meant—I meant from the love potion!" Sunghoon's shielding his face with both his arms as Sunoo reels back in the icy realization that the older boy is right. Love potion effects mimic what the feeling of falling in love is like, so convincingly that being apart from the object of infatuation induces high fevers and tremors in your fingers. "You let your barricade down for a moment today, and I'm guessing you must've inhaled _some_ of the fumes. Professor Kim did say it was turning out to be very potent."

Sunoo falls to the ground and instead of catching him, Sunghoon lowers his stance to level their gazes, careful not to touch the younger boy. Heartbreak is the fastest way to break the spell of a love potion, and as long as Sunghoon rejects every one of his advances, they should both be safe. But the thought of getting his heart broken by Park Sunghoon is unbearable. Sunoo nails his gaze on the marble tiles and squeezes his eyes shut as tightly as he can—anything he can do to keep his emotions in check in front of the older boy would be welcome.

"Come on, Sunoo, say something," the fifth-year urges. But his tongue only lays dry and heavy in his mouth, weighing down like stone. Sunghoon's arm moves like he's trying to comfort Sunoo but the latter flinches away, avoiding everything that's got to do with Sunghoon. As much as he wills himself not to, Sunoo can't help cracking his eyes open to catch a glimpse of the older boy, who's expression has gone soft as he hugs his knees to his chest to stop himself from reaching out, too. "Sunoo, I-I'm sorry..."

"What are you apologizing for?" he utters softly, averting his eyes. "It's not like this is your fault."

Sunghoon wears a smile like a fool and scratches his head in an attempt to dissipate the awkwardness. "I guess that's true, but I'm just sorry for causing you this much trouble."

"Who would've known I'd be the one to fall in love, huh," he blurts out without thinking twice.

"You're not," Sunghoon disagrees, but the rest of his sentence is swallowed effectively by a rather convenient gust of wind passing by. A storm must be approaching their school steadily, and Sunoo gives up the last of his hope of getting any sleep tonight, letting the wind carry it away.

"What? I couldn't catch what you said," he tells Sunghoon, who strangely enough, looks like a petulant child on a verge of throwing a tantrum.

"Forget it," the older boy settles on saying. And they do, falling back into silence, engulfed by the darkness. But it isn't long before Sunghoon shifts around, picking at his blood-soaked shirt and Sunoo remembers that _that_ issue is still unresolved. Sunghoon looks _miserable_ and he doesn't blame the guy—it does look like an expensive shirt he soiled. And it's uncomfortable enough to sit around in wet clothes so Sunoo can't imagine what it's like to have to sit down on the cold floor with blood clinging to your body. "Do you want to go back to your dorm? I can escort you back before I take a shower," he suggests weakly.

Sunoo shakes his head, limbs trembling from the effort of holding himself back. "No, I'll only disturb Jungwon. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight anyway," he says, alluding to the fact that thoughts of Sunghoon are only going to keep him up all night. _God_ , it's insufferable enough when he has to deal with Sunghoon in their shared classes. Now he has to pine for the guy's perfect hair even in his sleep?

"I'm really sorry about this," Sunghoon apologizes again, and the younger boy immediately decides he doesn't like this. In what world is Park Sunghoon cordial and nice enough to endlessly express his remorse and look like he's atoning? It's unsettling to not be bickering with Sunghoon when that's the norm they've established between themselves.

"It's your cologne, I swear—it's the worst part of all this crap. It follows me everywhere I go. I can even smell it _now_ , when you're all covered in the blood of your virgin sacrifice."

"Yeah? What's it smell like to you?"

_Don't say it, don't say it—_ "Like campfire. Or, like, when someone's got the fire going in the fireplace at home."

"Home," Sunghoon echoes. "I smell like home to you?"

"Yes, but don't take my words out of context," Sunoo adds to be sure.

"Sunoo-ah, you know that being under the effect of a love potion coerces you into speaking the truth, right?"

"Even so," the younger boy mumbles, cutting in. "This is all just a result of being influenced. Don't flatter yourself so much—I'll be taking back all these compliments when I'm in the right state of mind again."

Sunghoon scoots in closer and it's intoxicating, the way his scent wafts into Sunoo's nostrils and fills him up like the glow of a fire bathing a dark room in warm orange radiance. He wasn't kidding when he unintentionally admitted that Sunghoon feels like home—in fact, talking to Sunghoon, bickering with him... it all makes Sunoo feel like he's just stepped back into the room where he grew up, not the one he shared with Jungwon. "I'm not trying to tease you, Sunoo. I'm just glad, I suppose, that you feel comfortable around me now."

He hums in response, because he doesn't know what else to say. And it doesn't help that he's afraid of what he might accidentally divulge if he opens his mouth now.

"Then if you don't want to go back to your dorm, where are you going to go?"

"I'll just stay here, I guess."

"Uh, while I wash this all off, you wanna come with?"

Well, it's not like he has anything else to do. So he purses his lips and nods.

Sunghoon emerges into the fog-filled room from the showers in a new sweater, thick and patterned with green, chocolate, and ivory stripes. Sunoo thinks the boy looks like a mint chocolate ice cream cone, but he supposes that's just his stomach talking. As the fifth-year wraps a towel around his head to soak up the dampness of his hair, he chooses to perch on the bench next to Sunoo, careful to leave some viable distance between them.

"Since the potion's effects haven't worn off yet, you'd be forced to answer all my questions truthfully now, right?"

He grits his teeth to rebel the way his body's trying to make him grin and ultimately, he loses the fight. "Yeah, I guess." Sunghoon mirrors the megawatt smile on his face and delves into his thoughts, undoubtedly gearing up for the onslaught of attacks he's about to launch at Sunoo. "Wait, I wanna go first. Since this is going to be unfair for me anyway."

"Sure, whatever."

"The blood," he says, and the reaction from Sunghoon is instantaenous. "Where is it from?"

"Couldn't you have started with an easier question?"

"Answer it! You said you would..."

Sunghoon sighs and leans forward, balancing all his weight on his toes. "Fine. You can't tell anyone else, alright? And I'm dead serious about this—I could be expelled if this reaches the faculty." Sunoo agrees quickly, whispering a soft _I won't_ that Sunghoon seems to be satisfied with. It makes sense—after all, it's not like he can lie in this state. "Remember how a few days ago, a meeting was called to warn us about the breach in that one part of the library?"

Sunoo claps a hand to his mouth. " _That was you?"'_

"Not _just_ me!" the older boy retaliates like that's supposed to help his case. "Jay was there too, okay. If anything, we're both equally guilty of the crime."

"What the hell were you guys thinking?" he hisses.

"There was something I _had_ to know, so... Jay heard that was this truth-giving demon of sorts that we could summon if we had questions we needed to know the answers to."

"It's for the Sigils finals, isn't it?" Sunoo accuses, flaring up with anger. He's pointing a finger at Sunghoon and the latter scrunches his face, wrapping his own hand around Sunoo's to push it down, momentarily forgetting that they shouldn't be touching. A jolt of electricity runs up his arm and his brain just about short circuits like he's been struck by lightning.

"I— _of course not._ Is everything about the exams for you?"

He hates the idea of being lectured and talked to like he's beneath someone else, but Sunoo coaches his expression to stay impassive. Sunoo crosses his arms and sniffs, saying in an affected tone, "Well, you shouldn't be messing around with demons in the first place. Especially not behind the professors' backs. Do you know how many things could've gone wrong?"

"I know _now_ ," Sunghoon grunts. "Something went wrong and we summoned this... _lesser_ demon. No, I shouldn't be calling it that. It's nice, I suppose. But it isn't really doing what I summoned it for because it-it's—" He stops speaking and sighs like something heavy's squatting upon his shoulders stubbornly. "This is going to sound ridiculous, but this demon comes in the form of a little cat. A _tiny_ black kitten. I would've just thought it was a stray that'd wandered into the dorms somehow if it weren't for this purple crescent on its head. I thought I was going crazy but Jay heard it speak too, and once it realized that we could both hear it, we've been ordered to fulfill its long list of wishes ever since."

"What the hell..."

"I know," the fifth-year agrees. "But do I look like I'm lying?" Sunoo evaluates the way his dark eye circles pop against his veiny complexion and how cracked his lips are. No, it looks like Sunghoon's being very serious right now.

Sunoo tries racking his brain for all the information he has on demons. "Why can't you just kick it back to the ether?"

"I haven't had my question answered yet. I've already done so much for that little bastard, I'm not going to let it go without striking a bargain."

"You're aware that most bargains with demons don't go the way they're supposed to, right?"

"Okay _yes_ , but look at me! I literally just went out to buy some pre-packaged blood from the shadiest seniors ever and it threw a tantrum because I was too slow with it and knocked over a bowl of it. It's such a little shit—I swear to god, when I get my side of the bargain I'm going to choke it to death..."

"So there's a demon in your room right now," the younger boy slowly summarizes and Sunghoon nods, clearly exhausted and lacking sleep. "A demon-cat to be exact." Another nod. "Isn't Jay allergic to cat fur, though? What's in it for _him?_ If it were me I would've told the professors already."

"I always knew you'd snitch given the chance."

Sunoo flushes crimson and a warm tingle makes his heart skip a bit. He was starting to think that the effect was wearing not, but guess not—every time Sunghoon so much as glances at him, his heart does a little flip and puts his life at risk. "I'm just sayin' the professors would've probably come up with a solution to your predicament already."

"Yeah, but I need my answers," answers the boy solemnly. "And Jay's only going with it because he has something he wants to ask very desperately, too. Since the chores are split evenly between the two of us, the demon thinks it's only fair that he gives both of us a chance to ask a question each."

The younger boy gives a low whistle, "This answer giving demon-cat sure sounds generous."

"Isn't it my turn to ask you something now?"

"Shoot," Sunoo shrugs.

"Why do you hate me."

"I don't," Sunoo replies breezily. He's a little embarrassed that the love potion is making him send out all these answers in such a straightforward manner, but the best he can do right now is act like it doesn't bother him at all.

"Let me rephrase." Sunghoon's tongue darts out to nervously wet his lips. "Why _did_ you hate me. Before we started talking again this year."

"You were like the rest," the fourth-year frowns, looking down as he picked the skin around his nails. It isn't the kind of memory he likes summoning to mull over. Whenever his brain reminds him of the shit Sunghoon put him through in his first few years here, he instantly starts regretting letting the boy back into his life. "You made fun of me all the time so they did, too."

Sunghoon huffs, " _I did?"_

Sunoo didn't expect it to hurt this much. It's like Sunghoon forgot how much pain he caused Sunoo, or just... Sunoo had been such an insignificant part of his life that it wasn't worth remembering in the first place. It was worse than being forgotten—it was a memory that hadn't been there to be forgotten in the first place. He isn't sure if it's the love potion talking or acting or seizing control over his emotions, but he could no longer hold back the tears that have been threatening to spill from the moment he stumbled out his room. Instinctively, Sunoo's arm came up to shield his teary eyes from Sunghoon's questioning stare. He doesn't need to be pitied right now, not from someone who couldn't even be bothered to recall how they met.

Love potions fucking _suck—_ who knew fabricated emotions could hurt this bad.

He feels a firm grip settling around his wrist to pull his forearm away, revealing Sunghoon's eyes, so mesmerizingly dark and brimming with depth that it makes Sunoo wonder how many lives he'd possibly lived before. With his other hand, Sunghoon held Sunoo's cheek gently like he was handling something precious. With a touch like velvet, Sunghoon thumbs away Sunoo's tears and his breath hitches.

"Don't touch me, Park, I'm trying to get over this love potion as quickly as possible," he warns, but he doesn't do anything to shake off Sunghoon's touch. It's the latter who unwillingly unlatches himself from Sunoo after making sure he was no longer crying. Although his body wants to propel himself into Sunghoon's steady arms more than anything, he can't. He _won't._ "And _yes_ , you did. Every time I see you."

"What did I do?"

"You made fun of me, Park. Don't tell me you've forgotten all about that?"

"Sunoo, I would _never_. You were the first friend I made after Jay and Jake... do I seem like the kind of person who'd make fun of someone else?" Sunghoon recoils, visibly hurt.

"You always called me pretty!" Sunoo engages the floor in a staring competition and refuses to blink. "You always... you _knew_ everyone would make fun of the way I looked and you called me pretty in front of everyone every time we pass each other in the halls! Do you know how much they laughed at me whenever it happened?"

"That—that's because I thought you were pretty. No, I _think_ you're pretty, even now. I swear, Sunoo, I never said that to hurt you..."

"Suh-such a liar," Sunoo's sentence is interrupted by a hiccup. 

_T_ _his is bad_ , he thinks, _at this rate I might break down in front of him._ He wants to leave, return to his covers and muffle his cries into his pillow like he'd done every other night in his first two years here. But he can't, not when every fiber of his being is telling him to stay.

"I'm sorry, Sunoo. I really wasn't trying to tease you, I just genuinely found you pretty. I didn't know how to tell you either, because we never hung out when it's just the two of us and that'd be awkward, so I was stupid enough to think it'd be a good idea telling you in front of everyone else. I just—I'm _really_ sorry. That I never took your feelings into consideration."

Sunoo sniffs and wipes his fresh tears away with his sleeve.

"Sunoo?"

A pause. " _What."_

"I don't need your forgiveness but I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and that I'll never stop being sorry for this..."

"Whatever, _god._ I told you you were a fucking pest."

Sunghoon laughs, though it sounds choked and humorless. "Yeah, guessed I should've known you were always right."

He lets a few beats pass before he says something. Besides, he's still suffering from second-hand embarrassment from hearing _himself_ cry and stutter over something that happened years ago. He wonders if he's just too tired to function like a normal human being. "Look, thanks. For explaining your side of the story. I'm sorry you had to see me cry over something so small."

"It _isn't_ something small, Sunoo. You were bullied and I was one of the reasons why," Sunghoon counters, his voice earnest. "You should give me a list of names so I know who to fuck over."

"Maybe attention is nice for you cause you're always in the spotlight for being the most perfect thing to ever exist, an angel descended from heavens above or whatever, but attention for people like me isn't good most of the time. _Just._ I'll be thankful if you could keep this to yourself."

Sunghoon's a person who's hard to bargain with, and Sunoo is a _terrible_ negotiator, so when Sunghoon remains stubborn on his stance and says he'll relay this to the disciplinary faculty first thing on Monday, it takes what seems like a hundred reasons to persuade him otherwise. Sunoo's grateful that they've cleared up their misunderstanding and that the fifth-year is this quick to defend him and eager to get some justice on the matter, but at the same time Sunoo just wants to live his life quietly and leave it all behind. 

As much as the incidents still sting when he's reminded of them.

When they've finally reached the end of that chapter, it's already three in the morning but neither of them is tired. 

Sunghoon's stretching out, back curved, and hands on his knees, when he beams at Sunoo and confesses, "Well, I guess I no longer have a reason to keep that stupid demon around. All it does is knock over my stuff and smile evilly at me anyway—it gives me the chills."

He doesn't need to part his mouth to ask the question, Sunghoon just scans his expression and he knows the question on the tip of his tongue.

"You just answered the question I've been dying to ask for years," he gives up.

"Are you serious, Park? You manage to summon some weird demon cat who'll give you the truth and _that_ was what you wanted to ask?"

Sunghoon only smiles. No—Sunoo corrects himself. That's not the only thing he does, because a million other things happen when the older boy's lips quirk upwards slowly like a music box being wound up. Some kind of firework show goes off in his head and it's the first time he's noticing the single dimple on Sunghoon's right cheek. The mole above the dimple, the one on the left side of his nose... And how could he have missed the gold flecks in the boy's eyes all these years?

"There's no greater mystery in the world than one Kim Sunoo's heart."

**THE IDIOTS' INTERLUDE (if we're still counting, it's day 17)**

Jungwon is off distracting Sunoo, so that means that this meeting is only going to comprise of the five of them.

"Okay," Sunghoon gets the ball rolling with a clap of his hands, "we get rid of the cat first."

"Hey, what about myquestion?" Jay protests, pressing both hands to his eyes. The cat, who's seemingly grown quite fond of Jay, curls up next to the blond and wriggles its way under his arm. Sunghoon can already see the red patches spreading like wildfire across Jay's skin, made worse by the little clusters of bumps that resembled hives. 

The deep voice booming from the cat catches Sunghoon off-guard for the nth time since they found the darn thing lazing in the corner of their dorm room. " _Yeah, what about_ his _wish."_

"I don't care! We're kicking you back to the ether whether you like it or not. I can't have Jay crying over his allergies every damn night."

" _Come on man, don't be like that—this is the first time someone freed me from the ether in a decade. How am I supposed to answer to my superiors? If I get fired I'm never going to let this go, by the way... I'm an expert in keeping grudges."_

"You said it best yourself. Remember the first night you were here? You told us 'Do what I tell you to do. If you're incompetent, then I'll simply get rid of you. No one is irreplaceable'," Sunghoon reminds the cat, wagging a finger at it.

It's disconcerting to see a _cat_ rolling its eyes. " _I'm not leaving. I was summoned for a reason. You know what? Since you're being such an asshole I'll abuse my authority and give two questions to Jay."_

Jay cheers, punching a fist into the air. Everyone's watching the guy swell up like a balloon being pumped full of air. Sneakily, Niki reaches across the floor to pull the cat into his arms, nuzzling his cheek into the ugly thing's wet snout. The oldest among them scampers and moves closer to Sunghoon's side so that he can be as far away from the demon as possible—out of the six of them (Jungwon included), he was the one who turned out most worried about this whole summoning business. Niki was, too, until he found out that the demon had arrived in the form of a _cat_ and he squealed and demanded to be included in their plans.

And Jake... well, you could say he was the mastermind being the whole plan. Being the friendliest guy in school comes with its perks— _clearly_ , because it was only through Jake that they heard about the existence of lesser, "nicer" demons who'll actually grant your wish so long as you do their bidding and fulfill your side of the bargain.

"And how do you know this?" Heeseung had asked, apprehensive.

He only shrugged. "I was doing some research and Professor Heechul told me there _is_ a way for me to meet Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third and Toothless cause he saw me crying over them. I asked him how, and he told me."

Niki had narrowed his eyes and said, "That sounds like the very thing professors should _not_ be allowed to do", but Jay and Sunghoon have been hooked on the idea since.

They broke into the forbidden section of the library (easily enough when professors thought it was a well-guarded secret, so much so that it made them lazy) and managed to retrieve the book on summoning lesser-known demons. They quickly learned their lesson and realized it was a _cat_ they'd brought from the ether, but it was too late—too many of these idiots have fallen in love with the thing, and Sunghon's suggestion to kick it back to where it belongs was quickly overruled by four hands.

"Two questions? You'd do that for me?" a bright-eyed, gullible Jay asks.

" _Yeah, kid, you've been doing your part right. Hit me."_

"Now?" Heeseung asks, "Are you in a rush or something? You just told us last night that you weren't done with the two of them yet..."

"I think he's just trying to do his job right before returning so he doesn't get fired," Niki observes.

"Don't corner a helpless cat, guys. Just let it do its job so it can be on its way," says Jake, who's busy being a servant to the cat.

"Y-you want me to ask you the question now?"

" _Yes. Now you have one question left."_

The room is taken by an uproar from the five boys and the cat leaps from Niki's arms to the crudely-drawn pentagram on the floorboards. " _Hey, don't blame me—this is just how we run our business."_

"I knew this was a damn scam from the very start," Sunghoon groans, glaring at Jake who merely shrugs and pretends he doesn't know anything. He strides over to where the cat is grooming itself diligently and lowers his bearing so he can stare into its creepy, beady purple eyes. "Listen up cat, you better do as we say and stop playing tricks or I'm going to _make sure_ you get fired. I'm an expert in scrying, because my familiar isn't one I can bring out the damn ether, and the demons' headquarters for the lesser species like yourself, isn't that hard to locate. If you don't fulfill _your_ side of the bargain, I'm sure my familiar could enjoy gulping down an ugly cat for its lunch, so you better do this right." He turns around to spot his cowering roommate and says, "Jay, make your next question count."

Jay nods and the cat only huffs, but Sunghoon can see the paw that its licking trembling slightly.

"Oh wise demon cat, tell me, does Yang Jungwon like me back?"

**DAY 24**

"You need to stop avoiding me."

Sunoo speeds up his pace and hopes that the fifth-year would stop hounding him because _god_ , is he persistent. Today is the last day of their Alchemy lesson together, where their final product will be evaluated by Professor Kim and they will be graded individually, but Sunoo had been holding out hope that he wouldn't have to see Park Sunghoon till the fourth period. Apparently not. It's still early in the morning and the tall freak is already hunting him down mercilessly, and all Sunoo can do is pray that this will end quickly.

He's been safe for the whole of last week, mainly because a dueling tournament has been called for all the fifth-years, and an event that big has taken up all of Sunghoon's time and energy. He emerged champion, as predicted by the rest of the school who'd been keeping up with the matches with bated breath, and Jay was crowned a close second. Jake, unfortunately, had placed sixth because there was an obstacle planted in the arena that came in the shape of a puppy and he couldn't ignore it. Very soon after, he was taken out by jagged outcropping of the cliffs splitting into two—he had been facing a Magus who specialized in Geographical Magick. It was an exciting match. _Better_ than the finals, even, if you ask Sunoo.

This week, it's the sixth-years who will be kept busy on the battlegrounds instead so Heeseung's absence at their lunch table will be greatly felt. Well, it doesn't matter—Sunoo has actually been planning on taking his lunch, _alone,_ starting today.

" _Yah!_ Kim Sunoo!"

There's no avoiding something like that, so Sunoo inhales his last breath deeply and turns around to face Sunghoon. His hair is parted today, curling over his glistening eyes in the shape of a moon. Pinned to his lapel is the badge of the winner of the duels because _of course_ he'd have it on at all times. He lets the older boy approach him slowly, hands in his pockets like he's closing in for a fight.

"You've been avoiding me," Sunghoon says.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sunoo answers evasively. In reality, he does. Because it's true—he _has_ been avoiding Sunghoon. At every corner, every possible chance encounter when they're in the same room... he even had Sunghoon's schedule memorized so that he knows which hallways he should avoid at what times. Jungwon's taken to calling him a stalker, but technically it's not stalking if he's doing it for survival's sake. 

He's just... embarrassed. Sunoo has never been the type to open up to people, and now that he has to Sunghoon, in a moment of weakness, as he calls it, he's not quite sure how to talk to the older boy anymore. And of course, theoretically, such a mild dosage of the love potion should've worn off by now, but Sunoo's not sure if it has. He doesn't smell Sunghoon everywhere he goes anymore, and the fever has broken, the rashes receded, but still, his brain seems to have lost the ability to think of anything besides Park Sunghoon these days.

"At the finals!" Sunghoon wildly points out, flapping his hands like that would help with his point. "I passed by you and the rest on the sidelines and I asked you to wish me good luck and you pretended like you never heard it."

"I'm friends with both you and Jay," he reasons, "it was best that I remained impartial."

"You gave Jay a _hotdog_ before the match and I never got one."

"I was passing it on to him from Jungwon!"

" _Still_ ," Sunghoon presses. "It would've been nice if I got that good luck before the match started, you know."

"You still won..." the younger boy mumbles, "So, I doubt it would've made much of a difference. And I was there at the arena—plenty of students were cheering you on and betting that you'd win. You couldn't have been lacking in morale."

An unreadable expression resembling hurt flashes across Sunghoon's face. The atmosphere goes cold, or is it just the winter gust?

"Yeah, and the difference is that I asked for yours, not cheers from the rest."

For the first time, Sunghoon is the one who walks away from Sunoo. And if what he's feeling right now is even close to what Sunghoon goes through every time it's Sunoo who leaves first...

He just wishes he'd never have to feel unrest like this again.

Sunoo is wearing his barricading Sigil like a shield. When the last of the potion has been collected, sampled and corked by the professor, Sunoo lets it crumble to dust. The whole time they're being praised and showered in compliments from Professor Kim, the both of them just smiled emptily and looked forward with unfocused stares. They're basically just doing everything then can to avoid talking to each other.

Once the man has finished his round and back at his station up front again, he draws the amplifying Sigil with ease and speaks into it, "Great work, all of you. Take note that I will be judging all of you not only based on the final results but on how you've worked with each other throughout the entire process as well. And of course, since I've been seeing plenty of students get worried over the fact that the potion might've begun to influence them... I'm not irresponsible enough to let a bunch of teenagers go about concocting their own love potions without setting up failsafe safety measures in place beforehand. Your potions aren't strong enough to overcome those measures—the only one that can possibly do so comes from Park Sunghoon and Kim Sunoo's team, and even then Sunoo has been advised to work behind a barricading Sigil of his own."

The weight of all the eyes in the room makes Sunoo shift uncomfortably on his feet. He might just be mistaking it, but Sunghoon seems to have stepped closer to reassure him. Looking at Sunghoon's impassive expression, it must be a figment of his imagination after all.

"Even if the fumes somehow penetrated the barrier, rest assured that the effect would still have been diminished, and would've only taken root in Sunoo's system if he had feelings for Mr. Park in the first place. Well, anyway..."

Sunoo's head snaps up the same time Sunghoon balks audibly, and Professor Kim moves on to another topic swiftly, but not before he casts them a knowing glance paired with a wink.

A _wink._

When he looks up at the older boy upon being nudged in the shoulder, he sees that Sunghoon's smug smile is finally on full display once again. "I'm still mad about you refusing to wish me good luck, but I think a love letter would soothe my hurt feelings."

And just like that, with the sound of Sunoo's breathy laugh escaping his throat, everything falls back into place, where they should've been from the very start.

It's eleven o'clock when Sunoo slips out of his dorm room under the pretense of having to visit the nurse's office for indigestion pills. To his surprise, Jungwon doesn't say anything and only claims he needs to go to sleep, followed by a series of very theatrical and obviously faked yawns. He doesn't know what's up with his roommate, but he shoves the problem to the back of his head—he can deal with Jungwon later. Right now... He glances at the tiny note in the heart of his palm that reads _Dueling Grounds 19, 11:30._ He's going to reach the place way before the time specified on the note, but it's fine.

Being early trumps being on time.

He thinks Sunghoon might be planning something with the others—just this afternoon, during lunch, he was telling them all about Christmas, and how he misses celebrating with the rest of his family. It piqued their interest and they spent the whole hour discussing the traditions that are normally carried out in conjunction with the holiday. Hot chocolate, the exchanging and unwrapping of presents, mistletoe kisses...

(That last one, Jay was particularly interested in hearing about).

Sunoo tugs his jacket tighter around his shoulders and picks up speed, basically running to the spot of his covert midnight meeting excitedly.

But when he's standing right in front of the massive carved oak doors, he finds himself debating if he should push through.

As much as he hates to admit it, Sunghoon had been nice enough to pretend what Professor Kim never reached him at all, and he was back to his usual perky self. He's not sulking anymore and he's being so bouncy and happy around Sunoo that it's weirdly contagious, but at the same time, the younger boy detests the fact that he just _knows_ that Sunghoon is gloating on the inside. Jungwon, Jay and Jake are also skillfully dodging any mention of their Alchemy class, but Sunoo can't help but feel wary whenever he catches them sniggering like they're all in on a plan he has no clue about.

He eyes the towering doors, fingers already closed around the handle. All he has to do is push and he'll finally figure out what Sunghoon brought him here for.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Sunoo inhales sharply again and— _click._

He doesn't know what the hell he was expecting, but it wasn't a motion-activated trap that shoots spider webs to coil around his body and hold him in place just as the door slams shut behind him. Sunoo's so taken with shock, he freezes, afraid that the more he moves, the tighter it'll get. That's not the biggest problem on the growing list of worries right now—both his hands, right down to his fingertips, are bound steadfastly to his sides, effectively limiting his casting abilities.

With the whole room shrouded in darkness, Sunoo can't see shit, so when a voice rings out of nowhere, he jumps, startled.

"Kim Sunoo."

When the realization that it's Sunghoon settles in, Sunoo lets himself take a breather and relax. He tries wriggling a bit within the confines of the glossy transparent material wrapped around him in webs and sighs in relief. It doesn't grow tighter to squeeze the air out his lungs, but it doesn't mean it's _comfortable_ to stay in this state. Whatever bullshit Sunghoon's playing at right now, Sunoo can only hope will be over soon.

"What."

"Is that really how you want to address and speak to your kidnapper?"

"Sunghoon, please, I'm tired and I just want this to be over."

There's a sound of a flame being lit, but what lights up a portion of the room in the next second isn't a ball of fire, but rather a simple, glowing orb. It levitates just an inch above Sunghoon's palm and illuminates his face so Sunoo can rest reassured with the confirmation that he's not alone here. He's not afraid of spectral beings, but he'd like to avoid them as much as he can. Sunghoon's pouting and the orb flickers eerily in his hand.

"I was really hoping I'd scare you," he confesses.

"Aah!" Sunoo feigns shock, before letting his features fall back into a blank expression. "There, happy? Now let me go."

"No I can't."

"I swear to god, Sunghoon, if this is another one of your stupid _stupid_ pranks—"

"And what if it is?" Sunghoon moves in closer, closing three steps in one large stride. The orb is emanating warmth, because Sunoo can feel it grazing his skin like Sunghoon's breathing up close to him. Maybe that, too, is just a product of his wishful thinking. The fifth-year prods a finger into Sunoo's chest, though he can't really feel it at the moment. "What if this _is_ one of my stupid, stupid, pranks?"

Sunoo tries wriggling out of the grasp of whatever binding spell Sunghoon had used this time. It must be an advanced one, considering how he's never heard of it, much less seen it in action before. Rolling his eyes, he tells the boy, "Don't tell me I'm losing sleep just so you can lure me here to one-up me."

"Well,"—Sunghoon's gaze flickers around nervously, "what did you think I asked you to come here for?"

That's a good question. Too bad it's not one he can answer, either.

Just then, Sunghoon lifts his hand up higher so he can peer in closer at Sunoo's face. The latter blinks, disoriented for a moment while his eyes adjust to the change in intensity of the light. "Sunoo, do you know why I'm doing this?"

"To get me back after I froze you in the hallway?" he guesses.

"You're smart," Sunghoon remarks with a smirk, then gleefully announces, "but that's not all!"

"I would've never guessed," he deadpans.

"Can you just pretend to be surprised for once? I put a lot of work into this, you know... it took me _four nights_ to learn this darn spell and you don't even look half as impressed as I'd pictured this would go." Sunghoon shifts his weight from one foot to the other and snuffles awkwardly while he waits for god knows what. He keeps evading Sunoo's glances and wringing out his left hand like he's trying to shake off the clamminess. "Look, Sunoo, I... there's a lot I've been thinking about lately, a lot that I've wanted to say for a long time. But you keep running away from me and it's hard to get a word in when everyone's around."

"So you decided that kidnapping me and trapping me in this weird contraption would do the trick?"

"You would've never agreed if I just asked you to meet with me in the middle of the night!" the fifth-year argues.

Sunoo raises a quizzical brow. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Oh shit—you're right."

"Yeah," Sunoo giggles. "For someone so smart, you sure are dumb. Okay, so now that you've got me here, can you cut me out or release me so I don't have to _stay_ in this cocoon?"

Sunghoon's orb grows in size, just as his pupils dilate. "Nuh-uh, not a chance. You aren't getting out this easily. Anyway, hear me out—I have a lot to say."

"Let me go and I promise I'll still listen to you," he tries to bargain.

" _No._ As I was saying—"

"Sunghoon. Let me go."

"Allow me to finish speaking first, alright?"

" _Hyung,_ please, can you just help me out this once?"

"Sunoo, I've been thinking about this for actual, _literal_ years so just let me fini— _hyung?_ Did you just call me hyung for the first time?" Sunghoon exclaims with his eyes comically wide like saucer platers, catching on belatedly. Sucking his bottom lip into his mouth, Sunoo can only hope that this will do the trick. Besides, he's been thinking of ways to discreetly start addressing Sunghoon with honorifics but he couldn't think of any scenario where it wouldn't be made out to be this _big_ thing. He supposes Sunghoon will still consider this to be a huge milestone, but it's better cause no one else is around. But it doesn't mean it isn't embarrassing—he can already feel the heat growing on his cheeks, no doubt infusing them with a pink tinge that'll stand out in this room where only the two of them are illuminated.

He shuffles uncertainly and watches for any change in Sunghoon's expression.

"Yeah."

The answer came soft, his barely audible, "Oh" falling so gently from Sunghoon's red lips that it drives Sunoo's blush to spread that much more. He coughs and tears his eyes away.

"So, will you let me go now?"

"Good try, but it's still a no. Moving on to phase two of plan..." Sunghoon whips out a wand and waves it in lazy circles in the air. "Forfeit."

"What?"

"I said, forfeit. Lose the challenge to me. We're bound by Lovers' Truce, remember? Unless one of us wins by the end of the thirty days, severe consequences are to befall us."

Sunoo contemplates this for a moment and realizes that Sunghoon's right. The consequences are dished out at random, which is what makes it so fun and tempting, but rarely is the result something on the good side. With his luck, Sunoo will probably be assigned seven more years of rotten misfortune at every bend and corner. "Okay, but why do I have to be the one to lose?"

" _Because!"_ Sunghoon sighs like it's obvious, "If _you_ win, like you said, we can't talk to each other ever again. So whether you like it or not, I'm going to keep you here until you agree to be my partner for the rest of our school lives."

"Is it that lucrative of a reward that you'd go this far to make sure we go through with it?" Sunoo teases.

"If it means you'll be forced to stick beside me regardless, yeah I think it's a pretty attractive prize... do you know how many of the fifth-years were gonna go after you in Alchemy? If I hadn't reached you first who knows what would've happened then."

That's news to him, but judging from the look on Sunghoon's face, the latter must be serious. And to even _think_ of an alternative outcome where they didn't end up partners is scary. Technically, the main reason they could have the talk the other night was that Jungwon had convinced him to visit the nurse's after the effects of the love potion surfaced and worsened. He ran into Sunghoon, who looked like he was fresh out of a murder crime scene, and it's just... funny. To think that had the events prior not transpired so perfectly, Sunoo would still be hating Sunghoon now, and the latter wouldn't have found out why.

"Okay, yeah. Sure," he agrees easily. "How do I forfeit?"

"Wait. _Just that easy?"_

"What, were you expecting me to challenge you to an actual duel?"

"Not really, but perhaps something equally as dramatic."

Sunoo snorts, rolling his eyes to the back of his head. "Quick, before I change my mind."

Thankfully, Sunghoon decides to alleviate his discomfort right away, murmuring a spell with the reinforcement of his wand, and just like it'd never been there, the strength of the webs falters so they could fall in a circle around his feet. Sunoo stretches his arms and gingerly steps out so he could kick it away. The strange material shrivels and shrinks like a dried prune, slowly losing its shine, the pristine white of it transitioning into the color of coal. "Great, my arms are sore now thanks to you."

"I'm sorry, okay, I didn't think you'd be so strangely agreeable today," the older boy admits warily.

"Strangely agreeable," scoffs the boy, "you say that as though I'm a very difficult person."

"Well, it's true that you aren't easy to figure out. Here, hold out your hand like this..." Sunghoon's fingers tentatively find their way to Sunoo's, briefly wrapping around his hand to turn it so that his palm faces the ceiling. And when he has to let go, Sunoo finds that the boy's touch lingers a beat longer than it has to be there. The heavy thuds of his heart are alarmingly loud, but Sunghoon doesn't seem to hear it. "And then I kinda have to hold your hand."

Sunoo looks up through his lashes, only to see that Sunghoon's eyes have already been on his from the start. It might just be the soft, wavering lighting from the orb, but Sunghoon's dimple seems so deep... he wants to smooth it over with his thumb to learn how it'll feel like.

Steadily, Sunoo finds his voice and whispers, "Then hold it."

He does.

And it's not like the stuff of novels and films—he doesn't get sucked through into a montage that solidifies his beliefs that he's met his soulmate, he doesn't hear Sunghoon's laugh echoing at the back of his head. But it feels warm and fuzzy all the same, and it feels so good that it has Sunoo mourning all the years he'd lived _not_ holding Sunghoon's hand. It feels like crawling down the stairs in the middle of the night to sit in front of the fireplace, waiting for Santa to arrive, accompanied only by the sound of the fire crackling. It's true that Sunghoon feels like home—even more so that he's the comfort space Sunoo has been looking for all this while.

He thinks Sunghoon knows.

He must, because he's smiling.

A thousand thoughts rush through Sunoo's mind in the cramped, tiny moment. If Sunghoon _knows_ , why won't he just bend down slightly in one swoop to place a gentle kiss on his lips? He resents the fact that Sunghoon stays in the same spot, unbudging when he could just pull at their interlocked fingers and have Sunoo crash clumsily into him.

There are _millions_ of pre-written cliches Sunghoon could've gone with then to shake up his poor heart even more, but instead, he just says, "I'll do the incantation, you just have to stand still there."

Needless to say, it's really effective in ruining the tenderness of the moment—it's like Sunghoon's been holding on to a rock so he could throw it into the first window of Sunoo's home that he could see. The hot flames of humiliation for wanting something more lick up the sides of his face and Sunoo exhales to keep himself calm. The bundle of nerves sitting in the base of his stomach does _nothing_ for his quaking, fragile inner peace. They spark and jump like firecrackers trying to catch fire and go off. 

He gives his okay to the older boy with a nod of affirmation.

With every repetition in the incantation Sunghoon murmurs, the growing heat pulses, _actually pulses_ , like a heart was beating, sandwiched between their palms. Until its regular pattern stutters and comes to a rest, and Sunoo feels the connection between them severing and dissolving into nothing.

"It's done?" he asks, even if he knows it is.

"Yeah."

They let their hands stay like that for another minute before they let go, the hesitance evident in their sluggish motions.

"If it's all over can I go back to my room now?"

Sunoo hasn't even turned yet, but Sunghoon's hand is back on his wrist, gently tugging with the intent of pulling him back. Harder, and Sunoo might fake a fall to feel Sunghoon's arms around him. _It's the love potion,_ he tries to reason with himself through the haze clouding his mind. Then he thinks, _fuck it—I don't need a reason to not like him anymore._

"I told you that there's something I've been meaning to say," Sunghoon reminds him.

He shrugs and wonders aloud, "Think you're going to be able to spit it out by today?"

"I..." Sunghoon nears him, raising a hand to Sunoo's cheek, caressing the skin there with his knuckles, the touch so feather-soft that Sunoo just has to let his eyes flutter shut so he can fully immerse himself in the long-awaited contact. It raises goosebumps all across the expanse of his arms when Sunghoon's fingers finally reach his chin, where they coax and tilt his face ever-so-slightly. They're close. So close that if Sunoo sways forward the slightest bit, he's certain he'll be nudging the tip of Sunghoon's nose with his. He knows this because with every exhale Sunghoon breathes out, the hot gust of air grazes the side of his neck, traces his jawline. "Can I kiss you?"

"You're stupid for asking," Sunoo has just enough time to fit in his final insult before Sunghoon leans in swiftly. He feels Sunghoon's lips on his, and _god—_ it doesn't matter if Sunoo has always secretly thought that all their bickering and usual banter was the highlight of his days, because _n_ _othing_ can compare to how interesting, how _exhilarating,_ kissing Park Sunghoon feels. Sunoo glides his hands up Sunghoon's arms to have a feel of how the boy's standing before him, wondering if he's thrumming with excitement just like he is, and happily winds them around Sunghoon's neck to pull himself closer. One day, he's going to catch up to Sunghoon's height. He's always wanted to win him in _something_ and when it comes to his growth spurt, he has more motivation now if it'll mean that they can kiss for a longer time, without interruption, so they don't hurt Sunghoon's neck.

Sunghoon's doing this thing with his jaw, moving it so it feels good, and Sunoo feels comfortable with letting the older boy take the lead. His heart's bungee jumping into the next universe, except it's a drop, a steep plunge into the unknown that knows no end. _That's_ what kissing Sunghoon feels like—

He's falling, and he just keeps falling.

Sunoo sighs and Sunghoon takes a break to nudge their noses together, breathing down so it tickles. Somewhere in the back of his blissed-out mind, he remembers that this is a form of kissing too: an Eskimo kiss. Even when their lips aren't touching, they're still kissing. He can't help the giggle that escapes his throat—he doesn't _care_. Sunoo's so happy that you could summon a damn dragon and he'd be laughing the whole time he has to fight it. He never knew he could feel euphoria and pure elation like this—and who knew that he'd find it in the one and only Park Sunghoon?

When they eventually lean away from each other, Sunoo thinks he's going to have to avoid looking at Sunghoon for a while now. Or else he'll feel compelled to do it all over again...

But there's something he's been wanting to do for a long time, and unlike Sunghoon who's nice enough to ask, Sunoo just goes for it. His finger meets a spot on Sunghoon's cheek and it's clear that the latter's confused because he bursts out into laughter—just what he's been aiming for. The dimple makes a reappearance and the sight of it makes Sunoo's heart clench violently. He's endeared, so taken by Sunghoon that he understands all this adoration couldn't have just manifested overnight. Somewhere along the line, he's already fallen in love with Sunghoon and his heart has known all along. The purple color of the potion, the way he couldn't rid himself of Sunghoon's smell... How his heart would flutter every time he sneaked glances at Jay, not because it was exciting to catch a glimpse of his 'crush', but because Sunghoon would already be looking at him before he even turned around. Every. Single. Time.

"You have a dimple here," he murmurs, reaching for it like candy.

"I know," Sunghoon smiles. He bent down and pecks the area right below his left eye, then plants another kiss on his left cheek. "And you have two moles here."

Blood rushes into his cheeks and color his face red, all the way up to the tips of his ears. "Stop looking."

"You're really pretty," Sunghoon tells him.

This time, Sunoo believes it.

"Wait, I forgot I prepared something," Sunghoon suddenly remembers. He shoves a hand deep into his pocket and pulls out something green and speckled with white spheres, tied at the top with a now-terribly-wrinkled red ribbon. The older boy ducks his head as he examines the thing in his hand, shyly holding it by the protruding top. _A mistletoe,_ Sunoo recognizes with glee. "I tried to make do with what we have here. The white stuff is just the cotton I plucked off of cotton buds and rolled into little beads and... yeah. I don't know what Christmas is like, but I think out of all the traditions you've mentioned, I couldn't understand or picture this one the most,"—the smirk Sunghoon flashes him makes Sunoo smile hard and his cheeks are burning from bunching up so much—"so, care to enlighten me?"

Sunghoon raises the makeshift mistletoe above their heads and gives it a shake, just as somewhere deep in the school, the clock strikes midnight.

**DAY 25**

It's Christmas, _officially_ , and Sunoo can't think of anyone else he'd rather celebrate with than Park Sunghoon.

"You're an idiot," Sunoo blurts, but nothing can hide how happy he is that the boy had put so much thought into this. He inclines his head upwards without hesitation and kisses Sunghoon earnestly, and he can only smile when he feels Sunghoon sigh and relax into his embrace.

"Have I ever told you that I love you the most when you call me an idiot?"

But of course, nothing goes smoothly because it's _them_ , so halfway through the kiss, Sunghoon's hand slips and the mistletoe falls from his flimsy hold on it, scratching his cheek on its way down. There was a piece of metal that Sunghoon had tried wrapping the red ribbon around to make it more secure and now it'd backfired by opening a small wound on his face. It's a small one, but _still._

"Ah, you're bleeding a little," Sunoo frets, thumbing over the scratch gently before muttering a soft apology when Sunghoon winces. "We're going to have to put a plaster on this. I... haven't learned Healer's Rain yet," he frowns. It's a spell that only works on other people, so even if Sunghoon's already mastered it, there's no use.

Sunghoon blows at the orb and snuffs out the light, plunging them into darkness. Immediately, Sunghoon circles his arms around Sunoo's waist and tugs him close so their bodies are pressed snugly together. "Don't need that," Sunoo hears Sunghoon whisper into his ear, voice low and husky.

" _But I'm going to have to ask you to kiss me better."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FEAR NOT, THIS IS NOT THE END OF IT! I'VE MARKED IT AS COMPLETED FOR THE TIME BEING BUT I'LL BE UPLOADING THE FOURTH CHAPTER AS AN EPILOGUE!
> 
> i can belive it's over! this was a huge challenge to write (eventho i enjoyed it the whole time). i don't think i've ever loved writing a fic as much as i loved writing kmb. the characters are all just such fun, and sunsun's tom and jerry dynamic really comes through in fics with the enemies to lovers trope! 
> 
> thank you all so so much for being patient with me and staying until the end! happy holidays and i hope you all have the blast for the rest of the year, and of course, i hope that everyone's 2021 will be filled with nothing by excitement and joy <3
> 
> my angst fic titled 'my heart in your hands' is like only 10% completed, but fear not, because the way to the galaxy will be updated soon!
> 
> thank you all once again for reading this, and for all your sweet comments >:] i rlly rlly love you all smsmsmsmsm
> 
> my twt is @ricecookerym, and my curiouscat is https://curiouscat.qa/ricecookerym
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!


	4. Days of Future Past, (but Just the Future)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few months later, Jake goes on a hunt for a new pet because everyone has one so they agree to visit the Ether to shut him up.
> 
> But wait—they also get lost there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i know it's not friday on the 22nd of march LET IT SLIDE
> 
> this isn't an epilogue really, it's more like setting up for the next installment in the series! see yall there ;] (in march)

**HOW THE CHAOS THIS TIME ROUND STARTED**

"I need a pet," Jake decides firmly, sitting himself down at their usual table, _very_ forcefully wedging himself between Jay and Jungwon, who bounce apart as soon as they're separated, cheeks pink and excuses right on the tips of their tongues. And because no one responds to him, Jake says it again, louder this time, " _I need a pet."_

With a sigh, Niki pulls himself into an act of practiced composure and asks, "Why?"

"Because you have one!" Jake shouts.

Niki doesn't usually agree with Jake—in fact, if anything, he tries his best to scour the earth for every possible reason to _disagree_ with the boy. But this, he can't refute. He _does_ have a pet now, a demon-cat to be exact. The same one they'd summoned to answer their stupidly obvious questions... they're still unsure of why Jay had been so desperate to look for the answer when, even _after_ he'd received the affirmation he was seeking, he still doesn't have the guts to ask Jungwon out. Anyway, some rather complicated matters rose and the demon-cat all but begged them to let him stay.

It might have something to do with getting fired for negligence of duties...

"Heeseung hyung has one back home, and his familiar is a _dog."_

"A wolf, actually," the red-haired boy cuts into correct, looking very offended.

"Okay, fine, a wolf. Point is, _everyone_ has a damn pet except for me. Look, Sunoo even has Sunghoon—"

"Jake, I swear I'll actually turn you into a goblin today," the fifth-year growls, already slipping out the wand from his pocket. But _did_ Jake lie? Sure, the group had spent the better half of the last year trying to nudge the two together, but now that they've kissed, it seems like they're incapable of stopping. There's nothing gross about their PDA—mostly just light, absent-minded tapping of the other's hands, or subtle repositioning of their bodies so that they can sit a lot closer, or Sunghoon would lean in randomly to plant a gentle kiss on the younger boy's forehead to turn the boy into a blubbering puddle of goo. But Jake, who's practically mastered the art of patience since he got shoved into a room with a pixie, is quickly approaching his limit.

And he's gotta admit: as cute as Sunghoon and Sunoo are, they make the skin beneath his right eye twitch.

"He's speaking truth!" Jay interrupts with a loud chortle, quite clearly forgetting that with the way he acts around Jungwon, he shouldn't be bringing the attention onto himself right now.

"And Jungwon has Jay..." Jake continues on, not paying Jungwon's objections any heed.

" _Hey!"_

"I want a pet!" he declares, pushing Jay away with one hand, palm flat on the boy's forehead.

Sunoo blows out a mildly annoyed breath and finally speaks, "Well, if you've already decided you _need_ one, why'd you have to run it by us? You should be out there pet-hunting right now."

"I don't feel good when you make sense," Heeseung comments, pushing away his plate with a frown.

"Good thing he hasn't made any sense since they started dating," Niki mumbles with a general wave in the couple's direction, accomplishing his word limit for the day. While he tags around with the group (or rather, he can't rid himself of the six other boys), he rarely speaks up or contributes to the conversation round the table. And if he does, well, chances are that's the last you'll hear from him before the next day arrives.

Just a week ago they'd proposed joining a telepathic pact in which they had free will and control over which thoughts they wanted to send to the other boys, just so they can keep contact with each other twenty-four-seven. (As if things weren't chaotic enough already, when all of them gather in their free periods or during meals). But it had mostly been borne out of their crummy attempt at making Heeseung feel more _included._ He _is_ the oldest, after all—a fact that Niki and Jungwon won't let him forget—and that means his workload is significantly larger and more stressful compared to the rest of them. As a result, he misses more of their gatherings day by day and pouts and laments the 'tragedy that is his life' so much that Sunghoon has _definitely_ threatened to spell his mouth shut on more than one occasion.

Point is, they tried it—and failed.

Niki hadn't even made it past five minutes before he called quits. The whole idea fell apart before they became attached enough to want to salvage it, and so, things are back to normal for the time being. The operative phrase being the last four words in that sentence.

The youngest out of the seven of them ignores the glare Sunoo sends his way with a smirk.

"Why don't you get a familiar? _Another_ familiar, I mean..." Sunoo suggests. "I'm assuming a lizard isn't the kind of pet you're looking for."

Jake pulls back dramatically with a gasp, face contorting into an expression of rage. "Kim Sunoo you _take. That. Back. Right now!_ Mander _isn't_ a lizard. My boy is a dragon, _a dragon!"_

"Sure doesn't look it," Jungwon coughs into his fist, to which Jay laughs way too generously (and unnaturally) at.

"I think it's the name," muses the red-head, "you don't really come across dragons named Mander, you know? _Salamanders,_ on the other hand... Besides, he isn't a full-grown dragon yet, so calling him one feels rather wrong." And with another glare from Jake, Heeseung jumps to add. "Though, of course. he's much bigger than standard lizards right now so I guess you could argue it's wrong to call him a lizard too."

"Thank you."

Heeseung only responds with a nervous dart of his eyes.

"But don't you already have Layla?" Sunghoon asks.

"Yeah, but she's all the way back in the mortal realm! In another _continent._ I miss her a lot and I'm never going to love anyone as much as I love her, but she'd want me to be happy here, too," the boy reasons.

"Okay, so... get one," Jungwon says, dissolving the topic completely to delve into the latest gossip spreading among the third-years of late.

Because, see, no one had expected Jake to take that as support for his insane agenda.

**THURSDAY, 21st OF MARCH, 2021**

Sunoo's on his way to the common room when he nearly runs into a five-foot-eleven giant hazard. At least, that's the height on Sunghoon's official school records, but at the rate he's growing, he's _definitely_ stretching past six feet soon. The younger boy's heart jumps up his throat, not because he's caught off guard by the fifth-year's (well, sixth-year soon) sudden appearance, but because Sunghoon looks particularly good-looking today.

He appreciates it, but at the same time he doesn't. It just isn't good for his heart.

"Can you _please_."

"Give you a kiss?" Sunghoon completes hopefully.

"No. I'm about to go study it's my free period."

"Yeah, I know. It's mine, too." Sunghoon reaches out to thread his fingers very carefully through Sunoo's hair, letting the silky locks fall through the slots. The latter, clearly _very unwillingly,_ leans into the gentle touch and lets out a soft sigh. He wants to spend time with Sunghoon more than anything, but while the older boy has the ability to maintain his grades while sacrificing most nights to cuddle with Sunoo and go on "dates", the same can't be said for him. In the mock tests they had last week, his average had _dipped_. Not enough to make him drop from the top of his year, but still. It scares him. He shouldn't be slacking off if he wants to continue being with Sunghoon guilt-free...

He detaches himself from Sunghoon's touch and glares. "How do you even have my schedule memorized? You're such a stalker."

" _You_ gave the schedule to me!"

"Yeah, cause you wouldn't stop showing up to my classes unannounced," Sunoo mumbles. Not even a _week_ had passed before news of them being together spread throughout the entire school like wildfire. Professor Choi had winked at them in Sigils, and even Professor Kim made a not-so-subtle passing remark about how he's glad not _all_ the love potions had worked. (They scored the highest on that assignment.)

"I said _sorry,"_ Sunghoon whines. He's a whiner for sure, and on most occasions too.

"Park—hyung, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, I was in the greenhouse for my last class and I ran all the way over here, _to this wing_ , to get a smile from my boyfriend. So. I'll be waiting for my reward. I accept payment in only kisses, hugs, or compliments."

"You mean straight-up ass kissing."

"I'm an exquisite specimen, I deserve to have my ass kissed every once in a while."

Sunghoon's fingers creep along the wall so that they're positioned just a little above Sunoo's head. Swiftly, before Sunoo can duck under his arm and escape, Sunghoon cranes his neck down and closes the remaining distance between them. "I'm waiting," he sing-songs to the younger boy, his voice a lilting whisper. He's merely joking, of course. Sunoo rarely indulges in the older boy's wishes for affection in the light of day. When the fifth-year wouldn't stop showing up in his classes unsolicited, he threw a tantrum and made him promise to never do it again (unless asked) (quite often, because Sunoo misses him a lot as well).

That's why Sunghoon likes Sigils the most, as he's told Sunoo many times over. "It's where I get to see you without being weaseled off to detention," he'd explained to the younger boy before.

Sunoo just thinks Sunghoon is a distraction. Lovable, cuddly, and amusing with how ridiculously self-absorbed he is, but a distraction all the same.

"Kim Sunoo, do you wanna be my boyfriend?"

"Quit playing," Sunoo exhales into the older boy's face. "I'm already your boyfriend..."

"What was that? Couldn't quite hear the last part," Sunghoon smiles. 

"I said, we're already—" Sunoo ends the sentence abruptly with an annoyed huffed, cheeks burning, an immediate effect of his plight.

Caging Sunoo in with his other arm as well, Sunghoon nods to himself, pleased that he now has the boy trapped. "You were saying..."

"That you're already my boyfriend," the fourth-year finally relents, lips jutting out and shiny with lip balm. Apparently, it's a personal concoction of Sunghoon's that he created in Alchemy years ago to heal his cracked lips. They've been soft ever since, and when Sunoo had asked about it Sunghoon gifted him with a whole box full. It's the same with anything—Sunoo will mention he likes something in the passing and by the time he wakes up, there'll be an excess of the mentioned item stacked up in neat piles in his dorm room.

"Oh, what? You like me? I'm sorry, I'm already dating one Kim Sunoo. He's in his fourth year, super smart and ridiculously pretty and he's in Advanced Placements for quite a number of his classes. Have I mentioned how talented he is—"

"I'll elbow you in the ribs if you don't stop talking," Sunoo mutters, threat clear in his low voice. Their noses are almost touching, and all Sunoo can see down the slope of his nose is Sunghoon's mole and his smirk.

"My sweet boy, when has anything ever stopped you from elbowing me?"

_Very true,_ Sunoo thinks.

He'd love to give Sunghoon a playful punch in the guts or blow him off to the other end of the corridor with an offensive Sigil, but he thinks—this might be his chance to catch Sunghoon off-guard.

And so, pressing all his weight into the tips of his toes, Sunoo brushes his lips lightly across Sunghoon's bottom lip, enough that they catch and touch and make Sunghoon's eyes widen into the size of saucers, but not enough that he gets sidetracked from his quest to the damn library.

The older boy's hands flew to his mouth, grazing his lips like he couldn't believe it.

In the span of a second, Sunoo had managed to make a plump, ripe tomato out of _the_ Park Sunghoon.

Sunoo's own lips curl into a wicked smile as he reaches up to pat Sunghoon's shoulder. "I'll see you later."

"Oh, hi hyung," Sunoo greets the boy, just to be polite. Jake is sitting in between tall shelves, looking so bedraggled Sunoo would believe it if someone told him that the older boy just fought off an adult _Hollowelk_ all on his own. The smile that he flashes Sunoo isn't as sweet and warm as it usually is—it appears _deranged_ today. Sunoo takes a step back. "Uh, what's up, hyung?"

"Sunoo, you won't believe what just happened. _I fucking cracked it."_

The younger boy only nods awkwardly, trying to mask his shock because he's never heard Jake curse before. In fact, his non-cursing streak went on for longer than he'd initially thought it would last because he wasn't sure if he'd be violating some moral code by cursing in front of Jake. He inches closer to the older boy gingerly and tries to peer at the cover of the book propped up on his lap.

"Didn't you say last week that you needed help in Survival?" Jake reminds him.

Sunoo's cheeks go splotchy with embarrassment. He doesn't like to be reminded of his dying grades in Survival—it's a relatively easy subject that everyone deems to be a free pass, but not for Sunoo. First of all, he hates getting dirt on his pristine uniform ( _it's expensive),_ and his lungs haven't fully adapted to the living conditions in the Ether yet, so classes there drain him out so quickly he usually has to drop by the healers' office for some rest right after. His attempts aren't bad, just not up-to-par with the expectations set for the best student in his year. 

_And_ , unlike in Summoning and Binding, where they just retrieve their familiars and spend the period on theory and background and history, they're expected to put their knowledge to the test in Survival.

_The atrocity of it!_

And since Sunoo's lived in the Mortal Realm for most of his life, he's pretty up to date on pop culture there and if there's one thing he can compare Survival challenges to, it's the freaking _Hunger Games_ series. The whole thing works like a trial where students are scattered all over a warded-off section of the Ether in the beginning, and they have to start 'surviving' the challenges in the order of their previous ranks. Sunoo isn't bad enough to be the first to enter the challenge grounds, but his strategy has never changed—which is to duck, hide and wait it out. And that usually lands him a position in the middle ranks...

So, yes, he avoids the Ether and would never go into that dreaded place if he doesn't have a solid reason to.

It's different for people like Jake, Jay, Sunghoon and Jungwon. Heeseung, too, though he shudders at the thought of soiling his clothes as much as Sunoo does. (And Niki plays with demons regardless of which realm they're tied to). All of them practically spent their childhood playing hopscotch in the Ether, for in Magi Houses, it's important that their children are as acclimated to the place as possible. It's second home for all Magi after all. Well, excluding Sunoo.

"Yeah, I guess I do need _some_ help," Sunoo mutters.

"Okay, so, _get this._ You won't believe what I found," Jake squeezes into one breath, then shoves the book he's reading into Sunoo's hands excitedly. "' _A Guide to Living in the Ether'."_

"Hyung, are you crazy? _No."_

Jake's smile falls off instantly. "B-But—"

"Hyung, do you know how _dangerous_ the Ether is?"

"I'm not proposing we stay there _forever_ , but it's not like we have plans this weekend either... Think of it like a trip! You know how you were telling us the other day that Mortal kids usually go on field trips at the end of the school year to foreign places and play some games like hide and seek? It'll be fun!"

Sunoo casts his eyes skywards and feels his nerves tingling with regret that he ever mentioned something like that to Jake. "Yeah, except in the ether the only games we'll be playing are bets with demons that put our lives and souls on the line."

" _Psh,_ " the fifth-year waves a hand in the air like Sunoo's worries are so minute, they can be batted away, just like that. "My family operates their business _in_ the Ether. I'll tell you all you need to know to avoid setting yourself up for trouble. Even _Layla_ isn't scared of going in—and look at her! She's still well and alive. _Annnnnd_ , we have the book!"

"What book?" Sunoo groans, scrubbing his face violently. He should've just passed by Jake and pretended he didn't see the elder slumped over a stack of books maniacally giggling to himself.

"That one! The one you're holding!" Jake's kicking his legs in the air like a baby in a fit of hysterics, and while all six of them coo after Jake the most, this isn't something Sunoo should be encouraging. Both for his sanity, and for Jake's safety. Not even _sixth-years_ are allowed to venture into the Ether beyond the light markers floated into position by school authorities—you can guess what would happen if the seven of them were discovered to be camping out in the heart of the Ether sharing s'mores with the _Valawesieks._

Sunoo glares at the fifth-year and tucks the book under his arm. "Hyung, no."

"C'mon, I've poured all of my soul into my research to help you with Survival..."

"No, _you_ pored over these books for hours so you can find your new pet familiar," Sunoo counters, and Jake gives his legs another shake, stubbornly crossing his arms. "Shim Jaeyoon, you are _too_ easy to read. So give this up—there's no way anyone would agree to this madness."

"Sunoo, do you know how _pretty_ the world beyond the Ether is? Think of the experience! The edge you'll have over your other classmates! If you manage to get into AP for Survival, you might even graduate a year early... with Sunghoon! Your boyfr—" Sunoo marches over to Jake and clamps the boy's mouth shut with his hand himself. Timidly, Jake raises his pinky finger, non-verbally communicating his promise to remain silent. The younger boy rolls his eyes and lowers his hand. "You would go down as a _legend_ , Sunoo-yah. _Think_ about it."

The boy sighs and considered this. It's true that it'll earn him an edge— _if_ they don't die and lose their souls in the limbo while they're on the way back. Highly unlikely. Those creatures prowling in the unknown tiers of the Ether are wild and unpredictable. Many Magi have gone on adventures and returned to tell tales that eventually were spun into stories passed down through generations, but none of them were truly _fact._ It's hard to discern what's true and what's a blatant lie when everyone wants a taste of fame themselves.

If he could see it for himself...

"What's the creature you're after?" he questions the fifth-year.

Jake's eyes brighten and he grins. "I haven't decided! I'm thinking of a _Glasswing_ , or a creature from the _Stella Abyssi_ family, what do you think?"

"I think you're mad—those are creatures far from tier one!"

"That's the adventure part!"

The Ether isn't built like the world, round and nearly spherical. No, it's detached from earth and its realms altogether, standing on its own in the galaxy entirely, a floating portal that opens up to a world stacked like cakes. Or at least, that's the current theory the researchers have been trying to push: that the Ether is made up of several tiers, and the one their portals open to bridges to what can be compared to a 'ground floor' of a building. A skyscraper, one that reaches as far up as it does below, into the underground, burrowing through soil and mud and granite to dive into dark, cold sea. It almost mirrors earth exactly, save for the fact that there isn't a known end to reach the bottom of their ocean, and yet, the sky is just another level in the building that anyone can explore so long as you climb hard enough. 

At school, they _do_ allow students to enter the Ether as they wish, but usually professors herd them in groups and are stationed at the borders they've set up to ensure that no one toes the line they've drawn.

"We put it to a vote," Sunoo grumbles, and before Jake can shoot his hands up and cheer, he quickly adds, "and we _aren't_ staying overnight, got it? It's a full trip and back."

"Just _one_ night," Jake attempts to negotiate.

"Absolutely not—their nights and days are _warped_. It's hard enough as it is to keep track of time while we're there for a two-hour lesson and you're thinking of sleeping there?"

"We could visit Nikolai's hometown!"

"Don't you dare bother Nikolai," mutters the younger boy. He turns to leave, and makes sure that the book stays with him—Jake might've had his fill with the book, but he hasn't even started yet.

"You want to go to the _Ether_ for a sleepover," Jungwon repeats after Jake slowly, just to make sure his ears are working right. The fifth-year nods enthusiastically, so Jungwon deadpans and turns to Sunoo for help instead. "And _you_ think this is a good idea too?"

There's something about revolutionary ideas that lived in your head... once others repeat the full thing back to you, they stop sounding as smart as they do before they're voiced out.

Sunoo holds a hand to his temple and sighs. "Look, I said we should put it to the vote, and _don't_ listen to Jake hyung. I never said anything about agreeing to sleep overnight there. What I _did_ say, is that if we were to go, it'd be a one-day-trip kind of thing and not a full-on hotel stay. I have my whole life ahead of me! I'm not about to risk getting flattened by a stampede of behemoths."

"Yeah, you know, I heard that Butterfly Bay is very beautiful this time of the year. We've been working so hard on our studies we _should_ be able to go on vacation to reward ourselves every once in a while..." Sunghoon pitches in.

Jake perks up, hands on his knees as he jumps in to agree eagerly. " _See!_ Even Sunghoon thinks so—"

"I was being _sarcastic_ , Jake! Have you ever heard of people going on honeymoons and vacations to the Ethers? No, because the only people stupid enough to do so couldn't make it back—they _die_ there."

"Okay, let's give this some thought," Jay interjects, then shrugs when everyone turns their eyes on him. "What? It'll be like _Blast to the Past."_

"You watched that?" Sunoo asks, surprised that Jay had watched a Mortal film besides _Pride and Prejudice_ and freaking _Titanic._

"No, I just thought the title fit what we're doing... Like, _Blast to the Ether,_ you know?"

_He should've figured._

"I, for one, think that this is an _amazing_ idea," Niki chips in with a sheepish smile. He hugs his demon-cat to his chest and buries his face into the thing's neck, nuzzling and cooing. Sunoo can't be sure but he _thinks_ the cat may be smirking at Sunghoon, who's fingers twitch in anticipation of choking it. Apparently the two decided to bury the hatchet and 'put the past behind them', but Sunghoon claims the evil cat won't stop upsetting glasses of water of his written work or punching him in the face to wake him up in the middle of the night, then feigning ignorance. He doesn't even know _how_ the cat gets into his room—they've tried everything to keep it out cause of Jay's allergies, but it keeps finding new ways of breaking in. "I feel like Jinn would be delighted to head home to visit some relatives."

"Oh, you mean his _demon_ relatives? We are _not_ dropping by the demons' gateway like it's some holiday getaway," the third-year warns.

"You know what, I agree it _could_ be fun to visit our familiars in their habitat! After all, we only ever go into Ether to retrieve them and bring them over to our realm, but we've never had a tour around theirs," Heeseung hums. "I'm casting my vote... also, I'm thinking of collecting some ingredients to craft my wand."

Sunoo's eyes widen and his heart flutters at the mention of wand-crafting. "W-what wood are you planning on using?"

" _If_ we aren't going to the Ether I think I'd go hunting down some Elemental Sylvan soon. Maybe over the weekend. But if we're really going to make the trip then I might as well look for better, more durable ingredients. I've been thinking these days that casting with wands is definitely more comfortable regardless of the amount of Magick I have left. So—"

" _Guys,_ " Sunghoon claps his hands together. "Can we just—vote and stop this madness already?"

And as he says this, he sees the looks on most of their faces and regrets actually calling the vote after all.

"I'm for it," Niki says firmly.

"Me too, I think it'll be fun!" Heeseung grins, all chipper.

"You already know what I think, so..." Jake drawls, rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation.

Sunghoon's pleading eyes land on Sunoo and the latter averts his gaze. "I'll go last," he says.

"I am _very, very_ against this," Sunghoon sighs.

Thankfully, Jungwon, the only other seemingly sane person in their group, mirrors his opinion. "It's dangerous and there's no backup plan if we fail, so it's a no from me."

"Hear me out, I think this could be fun, so _yes_." Jay catches Jungwon's glare and dissolves into a coughing fit. "But no, ultimately no, when you consider the risks."

"It's okay!" Jake assures both the crestfallen Heeseung and Niki, and leans in to remind them, "Sunoo hasn't voted yet."

The fourth-year's mind is racing, wild with the possibilities of all the things that could go wrong. They could be possessed by demons, devoured by giant beasts, poisoned by Weeping Willows, or lose their souls in the limbo, but—

_But._

"You know what. Let's just go. It's just a few hours anyway, we'll be back before the sun sets and it gets dangerous anyway."

Spoiler alert: _very very wrong._

**FRIDAY, 22nd OF MARCH, 2021**

"The moment we step into this portal, you guys are going to realize that this was a mistake," Sunghoon nags for the nth time that day, prattling off about the dangers that encounters with creatures in the Ether could bring them. _Are_ going to bring them, as he'd stressed with surety for the past hour. They've just completed all their lessons for the day, and are now gearing up for their trip to the Ether. Inside their enchanted bags are packs and packs of water, antidotes for a variety of poison, first aid kits in case they run dry on Magick, and a change of clothes and some outerwear for they aren't sure what they could be getting themselves into. The book Jake had found from the library sits heavy in Sunoo's bag, and he feels it grow heavier with each breath taken in and expelled from his lungs.

Sunghoon hasn't held a full conversation with him since he casted his vote last night, and it's clear that things between them are _not_ okay. Sunoo's been trying to find a good opening to talk it out, but so far... there's been nothing but unfortunate timings.

At least Sunghoon has still been actively looking out for him, in his tiny little ways. From all across the room, Sunoo watches as Sunghoon twirls a finger in his direction, using Practical Magick to lighten his bag considerably. He feels a deadweight lift off his shoulders, quite literally.

_This is your chance,_ he tells himself, so Sunoo takes off for Sunghoon, opening his mouth to speak, "Hyung, it's fine, please don't waste your reserve for this—"

Sunghoon purses his lips and strides out the room, presumably to use the toilet. Or maybe he just wants to get away from Sunoo—yeah, that's a little more likely.

Heeseung appears next to him, blowing out a low whistle, "Damn, I've never seen him this pissed before."

"I didn't think he'd be _this_ upset over a stupid trip," Sunoo huffs.

"I asked him about it."

"You did?"

"Yeah, and he said he just wants you safe. So Sunoo-yah, try not to hold it against him too much, alright? Sunghoon's just trying to look out for you. And yeah, maybe he isn't good at communicating and he should work on that, but at the end of the day he's just mad that you practically volunteered to do it when he's trying everything to keep you from danger."

"I didn't ask for his protection—I'm literally not a kid. I can _look out for myself,"_ Sunoo mumbles in frustration.

"Okay, but think of it this way. Last week when Jay and Sunghoon were dueling in the courtyards and you saw Jay aiming for Hoonie's weak spot, you jumped in to deflect the lightning bolt away without being asked to. It's instinct, to want to keep your partner safe and sound and where you can see them. I'm not saying that the way he's dealing with this whole... fiasco is _right._ I'm just saying you guys could probably work things out a little faster if you _both_ made efforts to understand what the other is thinking," the older boy explains carefully. He then sighs, then pats Sunoo on the shoulder twice. "Anyway, I'm going to run through my checklist again to see if I left anything behind. Just—think about it, okay?"

He does. Sunoo collapses into a chair while he waits for the rest of the group to double confirm that they're all set and ready to go, then he jumps up just as they're linking hands for the incantation to open the portal. He ends up next to Sunghoon, and even when the latter stays mad at him and refuses to speak, he squeezes Sunoo's hand in reassurance that things are going to be okay. Sunoo isn't good at feelings, but he squeezes back.

"Okay, so if we're going to do something stupid, we might as well do it in the smartest way we can carry out a stupid plan," Jungwon says, already looking drained even though they're not even at the Ether yet.

"I didn't understand that," Jay raises.

"I didn't mean for you to understand," quips the third-year, and it shuts up the older boy right away. Niki chortles into his hand as Jinn the cat lazily slinks up and curls around his neck like a scarf.

"First off, a few things to remember: Jake hyung, no straying from the group. We stay together _at all times._ " While Jake looks like he wants to challenge this, he doesn't, instead choosing to convey his distaste for the rule through his pout and eye-roll. "And Heeseung hyung, we'll only harvest wood and materials from places that we pass by. Which means that you, too, aren't allowed to run around as you wish and visit other Tiers where you could get lost."

The red-haired boy touched two fingertips to his temple and salutes Jungwon.

"Niki, please, for the last time, the demons' gateway is strictly off-limits we _are not going there._ Regardless of the circumstances. The only the familiars we can visit are Sunoo's and Jake's."

"Playing favorites I see."

Jungwon ignores that. "Jay, stay with me at all times—"

"That I can do."

"—And Sunghoon hyung, I trust you're sane and logical enough to keep Sunoo hyung from doing or going anywhere stupid."

" _Pft,_ like I'd do something stupid."

"Agreeing that we should go to the Ether unchaperoned is beyond reckless, but okay," next to him, his boyfriend fumes.

"Okay, is everyone done? Let's go."

In a chorus of voices, they chant the spell over and over again until the portal tearing into the space, seemingly out of nowhere, materializes and grows to a size that's big enough to even accommodate the tallest among them. Jake, before they can even pull him back, dives right into it with glee written all over his face, evident in the way his arms and legs flail when he falls through. It sucks him right through like a mother welcoming her child home.

Or, rather, like a demon welcoming its new sacrifice.

Sunoo gulps and looks up at Sunghoon, who's already peering at him.

"Together?" the older boy asks casually, though Sunoo sees right through his nonchalance. They haven't been _together_ together for long, but Sunoo's taken to memorizing every shift of Sunghoon's features and muscles whenever he has the time. And right now, he can tell by the vigorous bobbing of his Adam's apple and his clenched jaw that Sunghoon is _definitely_ a lot more anxious than he's lettign on.

Sunoo nods, and tries to send the boy a reassuring smile.

He's not used to smiling, but Sunghoon makes him want to.

"Together," he confirms.

He doesn't have time to laugh at how the moment bears a striking resemblance to a scene in _The Hunger Games_ before they're sucked right through.

**Author's Note:**

> LET ME KNOW WHAT U GUYS THINK! DROP KUDOS AND COMMENTS AND IN EXCHANGE ILL GIVE YOU KITHES!
> 
> it gon be cute gais it gon be cute
> 
> i also have another sunsun au on ao3, and a socmed au on twt!
> 
> my twt is @ricecookerym <3


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